The Forgotten Prophecy
by Toa Naruto
Summary: NarutoBionicle xover. On the second attempt of retrieving Sasuke, Naruto gets transported to the world of Bionicle. After training with the Toa and Turaga, Naruto manages to return home, but can he adjust to the drastic changes, and fight a new evil? NXS
1. Prologue

**The Forgotten Prophecy **

**Hey there! This Toa Naruto, one the newest writers that just signed up. This story is going to be Naruto x Bionicle Crossover. Yes, I believe that it can be done. This is my first story, so please be kind and don't automatically flame this story. The main pair for this story is going to be NaruxSaku. Still, any helpful suggestions from Bionicle and/or Naruto fans are appreciated. I do not own **_**Naruto**_** or Bionicle®, they are owned by Masashi Kishimoto and the Lego company. **

'_Blah'_ - inner thoughts

"Blah" - talking

'_**Blah' **_- demon/monster speaking

"**Blah" - **jutsu being performed

**"BLAH" **- really angry yelling

**#** - scene change

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**Chapter 1: **_**Prologue**_

The scene fades in with a large circular sandbox. Suddenly, a large symbol appears in the center of the sand. The symbol is made up of two boomerang-like arches that looked somewhat like the letter 'E', one on the left side, and one on the right side except it was upside down. The two shapes formed an odd incomplete oval-like shape with two gaps on the top and the bottom. In the center are three dots that were in a diagonal line from the top right to bottom left, with the center dot slightly larger than the other two. A few seconds after the symbol appeared, a voice sounded,

_"Gathered friends . . . listen again to our legend of the Bionicle. In the time before time, before the Great Spirit descended from the heavens, and blessed us with our three virtues: unity, duty, and destiny; we Matoran once resided in an entirely different world. In this realm, our bodies were once completely organic, similar to that of a human's form. Despite these bodies, our ancestors were able to blend in with the other humans in this world. Parallel to our current culture, these people were protected by their own kind of guardians, called shinobi. These shinobi, otherwise known as ninja, were a race of warriors that fought with various styles of hand-to-hand combat and special ninja arts, called ninjutsu, which were performed to accomplish amazing feats. For a time, we lived in harmony and helped make our friends stronger, by adding our knowledge of the elements to their ninjutsu, giving them the ability to manipulate the elements in ways that they could not have imagined. Additionally, we also gave them our Kanohi masks of power and our Kanoka disks to complement their fighting styles. In return, the ninja taught us in the ways of genjutsu (illusions), taijutsu (hand-to-hand combat), and ninjutsu (ninja arts). _

_"Unfortunately, there were a select few who used this new found power to wage wars that destroyed thousands of lives, as well as the land that they lived on, in order to fulfill their selfish desires. Horrified and disgusted at the disasters that that their gifts caused, our ancestors and the first international shinobi council, led by the First Hokage, leader of the developing Konohagakure (Hidden Village of the Leaves), decided to have the Matoran, along with our gifts and knowledge, to go into hiding, in order to ensure safety for future generations. To guarantee our safety, our predecessors performed the most powerful genjutsu of all time, disguising our physical features into that of a half robotic/ half organic creatures. This genjutsu was to never be released in fear of drawing unwanted attention to those that would do anything for power. _

_"This decision, however, caused drastic changes to occur for both parties. Without the teachings of our former allies, we Matoran lost our comprehension of the ways of the ninja, as time progressed forward, and we began to focus more on our technology and crafts. Likewise with shinobi, as a result of their constant struggles for dominance and power, our gifts were lost among copious amount of lives lost with the brutal wars they waged. Once the last battle was over, the ninja had completely lost all intelligence of our Kanohi masks and Kanoka disks. Furthermore, their knowledge of the elements was greatly reduced to five basic categories: fire, wind, lightning, earth, and water. For centuries, the Matoran and the shinobi lived their own separate lifestyles, never knowing that their former companions existed. We were two civilizations, hidden underneath the underneath. _

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_'This can't end like this!' _thought the fifteen-year-old genin, who was hanging off the edge of a cliff, with only his right hand keeping him from falling to his doom. As he looked down, he saw how high up he actually was, and could almost see the sharp stalagmites below.

This genin, however, wasn't just any ordinary ninja. Anyone from the Village Hidden in the Leaves could tell just by looking at his spiky blonde hair, sapphire blue eyes, and whiskers marks on his cheeks, that this young man was none other than Naruto Uzumaki, also known as Leaf's most unpredictable ninja, and as the container of the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon. Unfortunately, the majority of the adult inhabitants of the Leaf Village, as well as a few of the village's shinobi, only refer to Naruto as the latter of his two nicknames. Ever since the demon's attack on the village, fifteen years ago, and when the Fourth Hokage sealed the fox demon into Naruto, as a newborn, the survivors of the grave battle saw the poor boy only as the reincarnation of the very monster that terrorized their village and killed their loved ones. Despite the Forth Hokage's wish to have the village accept Naruto as a hero, and the previously retired Third Hokage's attempts to protect the young jinchuriki, Naruto spent the greater part of his childhood alone, unwanted, and sometimes beaten up by mobs of angry, drunken civilians.

Despite all of the horrendous acts that Naruto suffered from the villagers, the blond never gave up his dream of becoming Hokage, and finally earning the respect from the village. To accomplish this goal, Naruto planned to always follow his ninja way, which was to never go back on his word. So how did he end up hanging on for dear life, with almost all of his charka depleted, on the edge of 90 foot cliff? One name could answer that question: Sasuke Uchiha.

Like Naruto, Sasuke also knew what it was like growing up alone and afraid for his life ever since his entire clan was massacred by his elder brother, Itachi. Ever since then, Sauske vowed to avenge his clan and kill Itachi for his crimes. As a result, Naruto's former teammate spent most of time either training on his own, or brooding on how he was going to kill his brother. Despite this behavior, the villagers idolized him for his clan's reputation and his kekkei genkai, the famous ninjutsu-copying Sharingan. Just about every girl around Sasuke's age adored him, including Naruto's childhood crush, who would often hit him if he talked trash about the Uchiha or just annoyed her, Sakura Haruno.

Sasuke never cared about any of the recognition he received, all he thought about was getting stronger in order to kill his brother. This attitude, as well as his Sharingan, didn't go unnoticed by Orochimaru, one of the Three Great Shinobi (or Sanin) of Leaf, and one of the most deadly S-ranked missing nin to walk the face of the Earth. Orochimaru wanted Sasuke's body to serve as a vessel for his soul so that he could gain the Sharingan to continue his quest to acquire all known jutsu, and become the ultimate being. By placing the Cursed Seal of Heaven on the young avenger during the chunin exams, the snake sanin planned to have Sasuke to leave the Leaf Village and come seek him out for power, which Sasuke eventually did.

Naruto could never forget that day. Sakura came up to him and told him how she couldn't stop Sasuke from leaving the village, and begged him to bring her crush back, saying that if there was anyone who could bring him back, it would be him. Even though it devastated him to basically hear the girl he loved say that her heart would always belong to his rival, Naruto, nonetheless, Gave Sakura his word that he would bring the Uchiha back for her. Unfortunately for Naruto, Sasuke proved too powerful for the jinchuriki to defeat, and ended up nearly dying as the person that he considered as a brother left to be trained by Orochimaru. The failure of keeping his promise to Sakura was one of the most painful moments in his entire life. From that moment on, Naruto promised himself that he would get stronger and fulfill his promise that he made with Sakura.

"Dammit!" the blond cursed to himself as he attempted to pull himself up with his right arm. His left arm and his legs were temporarily paralyzed, thanks to Sasuke's new Jutsu: Chidori Current. "I can't let it end like this! I didn't spend two and a half years training with Pervy Sage for nothing! I have to keep going, and keep my promise to. . . AARGH!"

A sharp pain erupted from Naruto's right hand, causing him to shout out in agony. When he looked up to see what the cause of the sudden pain was, he saw none other than Sasuke, with his foot on top of his hand. The Uchiha prodigy was looking down at Naruto with his fully-developed Sharingan activated, and an emotionless look on his face.

_To be Continued . . . _

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**So there you have it, the first chapter. Please read and review, but please be kind. Like I said before, this is my first story, so give me some slack. Hopefully, the next chapter will have more action. If you had any trouble picturing the symbol in the "sandbox" looked like, then you can visit _biosector01. com _and click on the 'timelines' shortcut, it should give you a clear image of what the symbol looks like. For those of you that have no idea what _Bionicle_ is, then this is a great website for you to visit.  
**


	2. A Bitter Reunion

**The Forgotten Prophecy **

**Hi, it's Toa Naruto again! Here I am, with the second installment of **_**The Forgotten Prophecy,**_** just like I promised! But first, I want to clarify a few things in the first chapter that might have been a bit unclear. This takes place during place during the second attempt of Naruto, Sakura, Sai, and Yamato trying to bring Sasuke back to the Leaf Village. Even though just about everyone knows how this mission **_**really**_** ended, I'm going to change it, because this is fanfiction. I do not own **_**Naruto**_** or Bionicle®, they are owned by Masashi Kishimoto and the Lego Company. Seriously, if you guys think that I actually own these things, then why would I be writing this story? **

'_Blah'_ - inner thoughts

"Blah" - talking

'_**Blah' **_- demon/monster speaking

"**Blah" **- jutsu being performed

**"BLAH"** - really angry yelling

**#** - scene change

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**Chapter 2: **_**A Bitter Reunion **_

_A Few Minutes Ago _

To say that Sauske was irritated by the day's events was a mere understatement, he was thoroughly pissed off. One minute he was in his room, in one of Orochimru's secret lairs, the next moment a Leaf nin named Sai barges in and warns him that his former teammates were coming to take him back to the Leaf Village. This bit of information didn't please the Uchiha at all. Sasuke thought that he had made it perfectly clear to Naruto, during their last encounter that he was willing to do whatever it took to gain power, no matter the costs.

_'Looks like I'm going have to kill that thick-headed lose after all.'_ Sasuke thought to himself, _'I would have thought that the idiot got the __**"message"**__ the first time around. Oh well, I guess not, but I might as well say "hello" to my old friends anyways'_.

With that, Sasuke left his temporary room to personally see that his former teammates never bother him again. Sai watched as the fifteen-year-old missing nin left, wondering what kind of trouble that Naruto and Sakura were going to face when they became reunited with the former Leaf nin. The Root operative didn't really understand the connection between his new teammates and this moody avenger. But then again, he never really understood emotions at all. Being a member of Root since the day he was born, Sai never knew what it was like experience happiness, anger, fear, or any other kind of sentiment. Like the rest of the shinobi in Root, they all believed in Danzo's philosophy: showing any form of emotion is the sign of weakness. Suddenly remembering why he was here in the first place, he realized that he was supposed to be with his team, and that he had to carry out his secret assignment: to assassinate Sasuke Uchiha and make contact with Orochimaru. This mission was secretly assigned to him by Danzo himself. Making a simple hand sign, Sai disappeared in a swirl of smoke to reunite with his team.

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_Inside a tunnel_

As Sasuke made his way outside, he began to think about the life he used to have back at the Leaf Village, and what he left behind. At first, he had no regrets about defecting from the village. It was a necessary action in order for him to gain power. Power that only Orochimaru could give him. As time passed on, however, Sasuke began to wonder if he made the right decision. On some days, when he wasn't training himself into near exhaustion, he began to think about the time he spent with Squad 7, and started to actually miss them.

_'What if Naruto was right? What if Orochimaru does use the Immortality Jutsu on me, and I actually become the snake bastard's new body before I even get a chance to kill my brother? Or what if I still can't beat __**him, **__even after all of this extra training?' _thought Sasuke, _'NO! What the hell am I thinking?! I know that I made the right choice! I was getting nowhere at Leaf, so I left to become stronger! Ugh, this is no time for me to go soft. I have to show these weaklings that I am not going back to that pathetic village, even if I have to kill them. I will not let them ruin my one and only chance of killing Itachi!' _

Now outside, Sasuke sensed two different, but faintly familiar chakras approaching, which he knew belonged to his old teammates. As the chakra signatures became stronger, he could make out exactly who were approaching towards his position. The first charka signature belonged to none other than his number one fan girl, Sakura Haruno. Originally predicting that she would have resigned as a ninja after he defected, Sasuke was slightly surprised to see Sakura here, actually risking her life on a mission, for once. The other person was that annoying, naïve fool, Naruto. That loser, despite the severe beating he received during their last fight, Naruto was once again trying to bring him back to the Leaf Village. After determining who the intruders were, Sasuke decided that should be polite and entertain his "guests" for a while, show them jut how strong he became during their time apart before he annihilated them.

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_Inside another tunnel_

As the two members of the former Squad 7 came closer to the exit of the tunnel, many thoughts began to fill Sakura's head. Half of them were about how the reunion with Sasuke was going to happen, and how exactly were they going to convince their wayward friend to come back home. She knew that Sasuke had gotten stronger from his two-and-a-half years of training under the guidance of the infamous snake sanin. If they were to get in a fight, defeating the Uchiha wasn't going to be easy.

Her other thoughts were focused on the other original member of Squad 7, Naruto. Her outlook on the blonde changed completely since she learned that he was the container of the Nine-Tailed Fox demon. Upon learning his secret, Sakura had a better understanding why Naruto acted like such a class clown during their academy days, and how much pain that he endured at the hands of the villagers, herself included, since the day he was born. Additionally, during their previous mission of rescuing Gaara, she knew the fate that awaited Naruto if the Akatsuki ever managed to capture him, and successfully extract the fox demon from him.

Ever since then, Sakura vowed to be a better friend to Naruto, and to help him more often than she did when she was younger. She already saw first hand at what her teammate was willing to become in order to keep his promise to her. She also wanted to make sure that the blonde didn't become a victim to the Akatsuki, just like Gaara did. She also wanted to be able to help her friend more often than she did when she was still a kid. But after witnessing Naruto transforming into his four-tailed fox form, Sakura began to feel like her old useless self.

_'This mission is getting way out of hand,' _Sakura thought. _'I knew getting Sasuke back wouldn't be easy, but I never knew we'd be facing off against Orochimaru himself! And Naruto . . .,' _she added mentally, _Naruto was willing to let the fox demon take control of him. He was prepared to become that monster, just to keep that damn promise he made to me nearly three years ago. I've got to be more active in this mission, or else Naruto might push himself too hard, and Yamato might not be able to save him.' _

"Sakura?" was the voice that brought said kunoichi out of her thoughts. She turned to be met with a pair of ocean blue eyes, filled with concern and worry. It never ceased to amaze Sakura that Naruto still considered her as a friend, despite all of times that she used the blond as her personal punching bag. Even after enduring twelve years of abuse, both mental and physical, Naruto never showed any hatred towards anyone.

"Hellloo, Earth to Sakura?! Is something wrong?" Naruto asked again.

"Yeah, Naruto, I'm alright," Sakura lied.

"Are you sure? Because you seem a little distracted." The blond stated.

"Really Naruto, I'm fine," she lied, hoping that her teammate would believe her. Naruto, of course, knew that she was lying, thanks to his personal training with Jiraiya. Due to the Toad Sage's frequent lies about running an errand, which he used just to visit his favorite "research" spots, Naruto was able to tell if someone was telling the truth or not. But, given the dire situation that the duo was in, Naruto decided to play along, and then talk to her later.

"Well, just don't let it happen again. This isn't exactly the right time to daydream, especially with Yamato fighting against Kabuto, and Sai still missing." Naruto added.

Sakura knew that he had a point. During the confrontation with Orochimaru and Kabuto, Sai had disappeared from the group without a trace. Even though the artist nin was a complete jackass, in Sakura's opinion, he was still member of their team. After their encounter with the snake nin was cut short when Orochimaru escaped, Kabuto, oddly enough, volunteered to lead them to his master's hideout, and to Sasuke. The missing nin was true to his word, as he led the group to his mentor's current base, which was built inside a mountain. Just as the team stepped inside the entrance tunnel, however, the Sound spy turned on them. Their current commander, Yamato, ordered Naruto and herself to go find Sasuke, while he held off the traitorous medic nin. After searching the various chambers of the base, they finally sensed a familiar charka that belonged to their old friend, and began to close in on that charka signature.

"I still can't believe that we actually trusted the traitor." growled Naruto, "I knew that we shouldn't have trusted Kabuto to lead us to Sasuke without springing any traps on us!"

"I know, but without him, we would never have found this base." Answered Sakura, while she mentally agreed with his comment.

"I hope that Yamato can hold his own against that freak," Naruto muttered to himself. He remembered how easily he was outclassed by Kabuto when they first fought each other. As they progressed forward, Naruto began to reminisce in his last battle against the Uchiha prodigy, and how easily Sasuke turned the odds to his favor once he activated his Heaven Curse Mark. The horrid image of Sasuke's second cursed mark state still gave Naruto nightmares. He also knew that Sakura wasn't one of the ninjas that were sent on the first attempt of retrieving Sasuke, so she had no idea about how powerful the curse mark could make the young avenger. Knowing first hand at what Sasuke was capable while in his second state, Naruto was determined to make sure no one would die at the hands of the power-hungry traitor.

"Sakura," Naruto started, "I think you should know more about the last time we tried to bring back Sasuke."

"What do you mean, Naruto?" asked Sakura, who was curious about what her friend was talking about.

"What I mean," began Naruto, not really sure how to break it to her, "is that the Sasuke that you once knew doesn't exist anymore. That snake bastard and his blasted curse mark completely warped his mind. He now only cares about achieving power, and he is more than willing to kill anyone that gets in his way, even if that person was a member of his team."

"Naruto . . . ," began Sakura.

"Please Sakura, just hear me out." interrupted Naruto, "I'm just saying is that Sasuke isn't going to take this retrieval mission kindly. He would most likely see this in a negative manner and do anything to stay with Orochimaru, even if means killing whoever tries to take him away from his training. So if he _does _fight us with the intention of killing us, I think that we might have to rough him up a bit, even if it means that I have to . . ."

"NO!" shouted Sakura, "Please, don't say anymore! You don't know that Sasuke's like that! Just because Sasuke left the village to train under Orochimaru doesn't mean that he's now a cold-blooded murderer. Furthermore, don't you think that we should at least try to reason with him before we attack him? I mean, we can't just go charging in, recklessly, and hope that everything works for the best, Naruto. We should least _try_ to talk Sasuke out of his apprenticeship with that snake monster, not nearly beat him to death. Even with the fox's charka, you still might end up ruining all of our hard work and hurt Sas . . ."

Sakura immediately stopped herself before she could finish what was on her mind upon seeing the hurt look that was on Naruto's face, all the while cursing herself for being so stupid. Even though she had trained with the legendary Tsunade for nearly three years, Sakura still found herself behaving like her old, spoiled fan girl self, again. Naruto was only trying to help her. He had already experienced what Sasuke was capable of, and wanted to prepare her for what might happen when they find their target. In return, she ridiculed him, as well as put Sasuke's safety before Naruto's. If she wanted this mission to be successful, Sakura knew that she had to make things right with Naruto before they went any further.

"Naruto, look," she began, "I didn't mean to . . ."

"Just forget that I said anything, alright?" said Naruto, cutting off Sakura before she could finish her sentence. After hearing how Sakura flipped out on him for saying how Sasuke was willing to get rid of anyone that stood between him and power, Naruto wasn't in the mood to listen what Sakura had to say. To be honest, Naruto thought that his crush would've realized by now that Sasuke wasn't the same person that she had crushed on during their academy days.

_'I guess Sakura hasn't really changed at all while I was away. She __**still**__ cares about Sasuke more than anyone else, even after betraying us all.' _Naruto thought, sadly. _'Oh well, as soon as we get Sasuke to come back to his senses, and he's reinstated as a Leaf nin, I'll never bother her again, so she and Sasuke can get together.' _

Sakura's guilt over hurting her friend's feelings doubled upon hearing his last remark. She really wanted to reestablish a friendly relationship with Naruto, but she practically destroyed any progress that she made with fixing their friendship in a matter of seconds.

_'Stupid, Stupid, Stupid! Me and my big mouth!'_ thought Sakura bitterly, _'Why don't I just tell him to go jump off a cliff while I'm at it? Now Naruto thinks that I'm nothing more than a pompous, stupid bitch. How can make it right with him, now? I know! I'll make it up to him at Ichiraku's once we get back. Hopefully by then, he won't be too angry with me.' _

And with that, the two proceeded towards the approaching opening of the underground passage way. Once they stepped out of the tunnel, they were surprised to find themselves in a battle scarred clearing, with scorch marks all over the place. As the Leaf duo scanned their surroundings for any possible traps that could be waiting to be sprung, they heard a loud poof from behind them. Expecting the worse, Naruto and Sakura turned around to fight the newcomer, only to end being face to face with their other missing teammate, Sai.

"What's up Dickless Wonder? How's it going, Ugly Hag?" were the first things that came out of Sai's mouth. He thought that he was being friendly, since he already gave his new teammates nicknames. So, he was extremely confused when an enraged Sakura was merely seconds away from landing a charka-enhanced punch aimed for his head. Fortunately, Naruto had placed the raging medic nin into a lock that prevented her from inflicting any damage. This, however, didn't stop Sakura's anger, as she tried to break free from the blonde's hold, all the while expressing what was presently on her mind.

"**WHAT THE _HELL_ DID YOU CALL ME?! YOU'VE GOT SOME NERVE, YOU PASTY-FACED IDIOT! YOU DESERT US IN THE MIDDLE OF A MAJOR BATTLE, AND THEN HAVE THE _GALL_ TO APPEAR OUT OF NOWHERE AND INSULT US?! NARUTO, LET ME GO RIGHT NOW, SO I CAN KILL THIS SMART ASS!" **screamed Sakura as she tried in vain to free herself from said ninja's hold on her. Her worries about the Root member's sudden disappearance were instantly replaced with rage and killer intent.

Sai, completely unaware of the life-threatening situation that was desperately trying to escape her restraints, believed that this was one of those moments of hilarity that he read in his books about how normal people behaved. The book also stated that normal people usually laughed in these types of situations, so Sai began to laugh at the angry pinkette's antics, which caused her get even angrier.

"Oh Sakura," said Sai in between laughs, "you are one funny bi . . ."

"**ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH**!!" shouted Naruto, not wanting to deal with a death match amongst his team, while they were in the middle of an important mission. Immediately, Sakura and Sai stopped what they were doing, and gave their attention to their orange-wearing comrade.

"Now look," Naruto continued, as he released Sakura from his hold. He decided to take advantage of their attention, "I know that this isn't exactly the ideal team. Quite frankly, I have no idea why we were all placed together in a cell, but that's not important right now. We are on one of the most important missions that any ninja can get; one that we can't afford to fail. And as ninja, it is our duty to do everything in our power to make sure that this mission is accomplished, that includes putting aside our differences and working together." Naruto finished in a hard tone, giving both of his teammates a stern look.

Sakura looked slightly embarrassed at her behavior and merely looked down at her feet, like a naughty child would do when being scolded. She knew that he was right, this wasn't the time argue with her team, even if one of its members _was _being a complete ass. Personally, however, Sakura thought that Naruto was referring to her more than he was with Sai, from the way that he looked her and his tone of voice. Sai, on the other hand, merely shrugged his shoulders, and smiled that cocky smile that could annoy anyone, even a Buddhist monk. An awkward silence began to settle amongst the trio, when the heard a new noise from behind.

"Heh, I never thought that I would see the day when Naruto, of all people, would be the reasonable member of a three-man team." said a voice that seemed awfully familiar.

Naruto, Sakura, and Sai all turned behind them to see where the voice had originated from. All of them turned around, only for the three of them to see a tall person standing on top of a large raised ledge. The figure was wearing an open white shirt, black sandals, black pants, and a purplish tunic that was wrapped around his waist. The figure also had a chokuto sword on his right side, which was held in place by a light purple cord that was tied around his waist, on top of the tunic, with the loss ends of the knot on the right side. As the Naruto and Sakura moved their gaze towards the figure's head, they were met with a pale face, with raven black hair, and two onyx eyes.

_'It's really him, after all this time.'_ thought Sakura.

_'There he is; the one that Danzo told me about.' _Sai said mentally.

"Sasuke . . ." was the only thing that came from Naruto's mouth, as he, Sakura, and Sai fixed their eyes on the figure of the his old rival, Sasuke Uchiha.

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_Inside the secret base's entrance tunnel_

Kabuto, who originally thought that this failed experiment would be nothing more than a waste of his time, was now cursing both himself, for overestimating his own abilities, and his master's careless ways of disposing of his specimens when he was through with them. Kabuto found it particularly ironic that whenever Orochimaru got rid of anyone that was no longer of use to him, the ones that somehow survived would ally themselves with his master's original home. First, it was Orochimaru's first apprentice and receiver of the Heaven curse mark, Anko Mitarashi, who had the nerve to actually leave the Snake nin on her own choice. Now, he had to deal with Yamato, who, as an infant, was fused with the First Hokage's DNA in an attempt to create a vessel with the kekkei genkai of the Senju clan. Orochiamru, apparently, thought that the whole procedure was a complete failure and left the child for dead, or so he thought.

There many things that Orochimaru did that Kabuto knew that he should never question, unless he wanted to end up as a sacrifice to Manda. The decision to leave Yamato, who was later found by the Leaf nin, was one decision that Kabuto believed to be his master's most careless one of the all. Despite the situation that he was presently in, Kabuto was fairly impressed with ANBU captain's skill, considering that Orochimaru originally thought him to be a failure. He was able to utilize the secret Wood Style jutsu almost as well as Hashirama.

"_I need to wrap this up, quickly.' _thought Kabuto. The battle with Yamato was taking longer than expected, and he was running out of charka. Thinking quickly, the Sound spy came up with plan. He would first act if he was going with a head-on attack, but then dive underground to catch his opponent off-guard. Then, he would resurface and attack with his charka scalpels, immobilizing the ANBU. Finally, he would go for the kill. Kabuto believed that the plan was fool-proof, nothing could go wrong.

"I must say Yamato," started Kabuto, as he took out a military rations pellet, "I'm actually impressed with your skills. And as much as I would like to see more of your talent, I'm afraid that I don't have time to continue this little sparring match. So, how about I finish you off right now? I'll make sure that it's quick and painless." With that, Kabuto swallowed the pill and performed the hand signs for his jutsu.

**"Ninja Art: Mystical Palm Jutsu!" **shouted Kabuto, after he finished the last sign. Instantaneously, Kabuto's palms began to glow with light blue charka. Without a second's delay, Kabuto charged towards Yamato, all the while feigning an attack. As he came closer towards his supposed target, Yamato was performing his own hand signs in a rapid pace.

**"Wood Style: Wood Barrier Jutsu!" **yelled Yamato. As soon as he did, eight beams of wood emerged from the ground in a circle around the ninja, then began to bend and formed a semi-sphere shield around him, just before Kabuto could land blow. But when the Leaf nin didn't hear anything strike againstthe barrier, he realized that he had fallen in a trap.

_'Dammit, that charge was nothing but a fake-out!'_ though Yamato, angrily. Sure enough, Yamato felt began to shake underneath him. Suddenly, Kabuto sprung out from the ground and jabbed Yamato in the chest, with his right arm, effectively slicing through his opponent's heart muscle. Yamato coughed up a large amount of blood and started to collapse, but was caught by Kabuto at the last minute, who held him by the neck in a way that made the dying captain face him.

"Oh, come now," chided Kabuto, like a father disciplining his son, "I'm really disappointed in you. Did you really think that I would be _that _stupid to blindly charge in like that? Perhaps Orochimaru was right in leaving you for dead, because he knew that you would be nothing but a mindless waste of flesh."

"Heh, I know you are Kabuto, but what am I?" was Yamato's response, before his entire body slowly turned into a wooden one, which then crumpled to pieces.

_'What?! When did he have the time to create wood clone and substitute it as himself?!' _Kabuto thought, as he tried to regain his bearings. But his thoughts were interrupted with another shout from Yamato.

**"Wood Style, Secret Jutsu: Birth of Dense Woodland!" **Instantly,small trees began to sprout out of the barrier and ground, growing in size and width as they continued to grow at a quick pace. After muttering a curse, Kabuto made a single hand sign and teleported out of the barrier, but not fast enough to avoid a branch that scratched him across his chest. As he reappeared a few meters away from the wooden dome, he was met with the sight Yamato charging towards him with his sword drawn. Thinking quickly, Kabuto threw a smoke bomb at his feet, and then hid underground once again.

As the smoke cleared, Yamato saw that he was, once again, alone on the battleground. Suddenly he felt a charka signature approaching from behind him. Acting quickly, Yamato jumped to his left, just as Kabuto emerged from underneath the ground, charka scalpelsready to strike. Yamato counter attackedby throwing several shuriken and kunai knives at the silver-haired traitor. Kabuto quickly used a substitution to avoid being hit, and to dive back underground.

A few seconds later, Yamato sensed the same charka signature again, only this time it was approaching him from his left side. In a flash, Yamato jumped up in the air. Moments later, Kabuto emerged once again to attack, only to find that his target wasn't there. This time, Yamato hurtled down upon the unsuspecting ninja, and slashed at Kabuto with his katana, this time successfully hitting his target. Kabuto grunted in pain as he jumped as far away from the captain as he could. Still needing the little charka that he had for his scalpels, he decided not to use his regenerative powers to repair the damage.

Seeing that his underground surprise attack strategy wasn't working out, Kabuto decided to just fight the wood ninja head on. Even this approach proved futile, as for every time he tried to hit hi, Yamato dodged each strike, effortlessly. This really got Kabuto pissed off, as his fatigue continued to increase with every strike.

_'What's going on?! Why can't I hit him?!' _Kabuto shouted mentally, as Yamato landed a hard side kick on his stomach, causing the missing nin to skid backwards a few inches. Once Kabuto was back on his feet again, he saw the ANBU agent smirking at him.

"You know, for genius, you really not that smart. I thought that you would've figured it out by now. But I might as well tell you. Take a look at your shirt." said Yamato, as he pointed to Kabuto's stomach. Kabuto looked down, and at first glance only saw the scratch. But as he looked closer, he could see an extremely small piece of wood embedded into his skin.

_'A splinter?! But how could he have . . . Wait a minute,' _thought Kabuto,_ 'the tree dome . . . ' _

"That's right," said Yamato, "that Birth of Dense Woodland jutsu was just a distraction in order for me to perform a jutsu that allowed me to know your every move."

"How?!" snarled Kabuto.

"It's easy. I infuse a small amount of my charka into a tiny splinter of wood, and then I embed it onto my opponent's body. Once the splinter is in my opponent's body, it is able detect any action in the charka network, allowing me to predict what type of jutsu they're going to use, as well as where they would most likely strike. I call it Wood Style: Splinter Spy Jutsu."

"Remarkable." replied Kabuto.

"It is, but the fun is just beginning." said Yamato, as began to go through another set of hand signs. Kabuto didn't know exactly what he was doing, but his senses told to get that splinter out of himself immediately. As he moved to get the piece of wood out with one of his Mystical Palms, it was already too late.

**"Wood Style: Splinter Bomb Jutsu!" **shouted the Leaf nin.

Instantaneously, the small splinter created a huge explosion right on Kabuto's abdomen, causing him to scream in agony. The explosion sent the Sound spy flying several feet back, until his body crashed into the opposite side of the tunnel, creating spider-web cracks on the surface underneath him. As the smoke cleared, Yamato could see his opponent, to his surprise, still in one piece and trying with all his might to stand up. He could also see a partially healed stomach, but the damage that was inflicted was still pretty serious.

Kabuto was in unimaginable pain, but he knew that he would've been worse off if he hadn't started focusing his remaining charka around his chest area. It was taking everything that he had to remain awake, but he could still feel himself slipping slowly into unconsciousness. With the last of his strength, the Sound nin managed to say one last thing.

"Well done." said Kabuto, as he collapsed from exhaustion and extreme charka depletion. Yamato approached the still form of Kabuto to see if he was dead, but found that his enemy was merely unconscious. This put the ANBU captain in a difficult situation, in which he had two options. He could kill Kabuto right now and prevent the spy from causing any more trouble for Leaf, but at the same time run the risk of having his team fight possibly both Sasuke _and _Orochimaru by themselves. But if he left Kabuto alone in order to catch up to Naruto and Sakura, then Kabuto would be free to spy on the village again. But before he could make a decision, he heard a faint whistling sound coming from behind him, and becoming louder by each passing second. Relying on his instincts, Yamato jumped to his right, narrowly avoiding being struck by the kunai that whizzed past him and hit the wall instead.

"Kukukuku," laughed a voice, "well now, look who's decided to come back home."

Yamato quickly turned around to see where the voice came from, and saw the one person that he hated the most. The owner of the voice was a tall man with white skin, and yellow snake-like eyes.

"Orochimaru," growled Yamato.

"I must say, Yamato, I was quite impressed with those new jutsus of yours." said Orochimaru, with a faint smile on his face, "Maybe Kabuto was right all along. Perhaps I was too hasty in giving up on you. So allow me to make up to you with this proposition. How about you sever your ties to Leaf, and pledge your allegiance to me, as my loyal servant, where you can become more powerful than you can imagine? I promise that you won't regret it."

Yamato just drew out his katana and got into a kenjutsu stance. The man had already suffered enough at the hands from the infamous traitor, and wasn't going to be so easily fooled by the snake's deals and false promises. Orochimaru merely laughed at his former specimen's reaction.

"Such a waste," stated the snake nin, before he summoned a snake from his throat, which regurgitated Kusanagi sword from its mouth. Now with his sword in hand, Orochimaru got in a stance of his own. "Now then, lets see just how far you've progressed by playing ninja with those fools from Leaf." he said before he raced towards Yamato.

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_The battle-scarred clearing _

It seemed as if time stopped completely around the entire area as the new Squad 7 were in a stare down with the former Leaf ninja, Sasuke Uchiha. Sakura couldn't believe that she was actually looking at her old crush, after all of this time. Once again, she felt her old fan girl personality trying to resurface from the depths of her mind, urging her to admit her love to the missing nin, but she remembered that she was better than this and immediately suppressed her old self before it caused any trouble. Naruto, however, was trying to read Sasuke's face, to see if there was any trace of the old Sasuke left. Sasuke's blank expression, unfortunately, didn't give the blond any positive results. Sai merely just stood there, looking to and fro from his teammates to Sasuke, trying to understand the bond that was between them. An eerie silence started to build up between the team and their target.

"So, Naruto," started Sasuke, breaking the ice and causing everyone to tense up, "you're back, once again playing the idiotic, selfless hero, huh? Only this time you've managed to trick Sakura and an ANBU operative into joining you. Though I must say, I never thought that you were capable of deceit."

"Sasuke," Naruto started, all the while keeping his temper in check, "Sakura and Sai willingly came with me to rescue _you_."

Sasuke just frowned at that statement. "_Rescue _me?" he said, "what makes you think that I even wanted you or your little team to _rescue_ me? I told the last time we fought that I'm willing to do anything to achieve greater power in order to finally kill my brother, even if I have to risk having my body being used as Orochimaru's next vessel. I've told you before, I'm an avenger. No pathway to power is too dangerous for me.

"Besides, Naruto you have better things to be doing than going on a wild goose chase, looking for me. You wanted become Hokage, didn't you? I know that from all of the times that you openly stated your goal to the public, but do you even know what it takes to _be_ Hokage? A Kage needs to be the strongest ninja in their village so that they can keep the villagers and shinobi in order, as well as be able to protect the entire village from disaster. In order for you to fit these qualities, Naruto, you should be training to become the most powerful ninja in the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

What happened next was something that the team didn't expect to happen. One minute, Sasuke was standing on the raised ledge of the clearing, the next moment Sasuke was right next Naruto, with his chokuto drawn from its scabbard and positioned merely inches away from the genin's chest. Sakura and Sai could only gape in amazement at the missing nin's speed.

"Answer me this, Naruto," Sasuke whispered in Naruto's ear, "what kind Hokage would you be if you spent the majority of your time chasing after one missing nin instead focusing on improving your skills and governing you village?"

"You've got all wrong Sasuke." Naruto answered aloud. "Being Hokage isn't just about being the strongest ninja in the village. It's also about being able help and improve life in the village, and being willing to sacrifice your life in order protect the people that you love. Only by protecting something or someone that's precious to you can you achieve real strength, not by isolating yourself from your comrades and home. And as for my answer to your question, any Hokage that doesn't care about his ninja and friends doesn't deserve the rank of Kage at all."

At first, Sasuke looked as if he was taken back by Naruto's speech, but his facial expression quickly changed to that of an irritated one. "So be it." started Sasuke, "I may have spared your life on a whim at The Valley of the End, but this time, you won't be so lucky!" In a flash, Sasuke swiftly thrust his sword down upon Naruto, which went onto the genin's chest and exited out through his back.

"Naruto!!" screamed Sakura in horror, as she watched her friend become a human shish kabob.

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_Inside the secret base's entrance tunnel _

Yamato crashed to the ground, with a loud thud. His armor was cracked and dented. There were gashes and cuts all over his body. His katana was completely destroyed, the blade being cut off at the hilt. His right arm was fractured in three different places, and his left wrist was broken. Orochimaru, on the other hand, didn't have a single scratch on him. The snake nin looked as if he didn't even break a sweat during the entire fight.

"I'm disappointed at you, Yamato." Orochimaru said, with a sneer plastered on his face, "Of course, I'm partially to blame, for actually expecting that fighting you would be a challenge. I should've known better than to expect that any ninja that serves Leaf would be strong. They haven't even scraped the surface of your potential, Yamato. If you had pledged your loyalty to me, you would have been able to make Hashirama look like a novice."

"Yyyoou mean . . . I wwwould have been . . . used as . . . one of your vessels." Yamato growled out through his pain.

Orochimaru just chuckled. "True, but either way you look at it, you would have had a better life than your present one right now. Anyways, as much as I've enjoyed this little reunion, I really must be going. I have a meeting with a Leaf nin that wishes to form an alliance with me." the snake nin said.

"What, an alliance with _you_? What are you talking about? Who's this Leaf nin?!" asked Yamato, alarmed that there was another traitor amongst the ninja ranks in Leaf.

Orochimaru just laughed at the ANBU agent's reaction. "Well, let's just say that's for me to know, and for you and the Leaf village to never find out. But I will say this much, after this alliance is made official, we will finally be able level your village to the ground." he said, as turned around, and began walking in the direction that Naruto and Sakura had previously taken. Yamato was still in shock with the information that he just learned. There was yet another traitor in Leaf and, based on what Orochimaru had just said, he/she had plenty of data about Leaf and its shinobi for an invasion that could result in the village's demise. As an ANBU Black Operative, it was his duty to make sure these types of plans were never put into action.

So with the remaining strength that he had, Yamato got to his feet and drew out a pair of kunai, one in each hand. Orochimaru was still walking away, not hearing the injured ninja getting up. "**OROCHIMARU!**" snarled Yamato. The snake nin stopped, and turned to face the battered Leaf nin, a bored look adorning his face. "If you think," continued Yamato, "that I'm just going to let you walk away, **THEN YOU'RE DEAD WRONG!!**" With that, Yamato charged at Orochimaru with a mighty roar, with the intent of stopping the snake nin's plan and getting revenge for the experimentations that he endured as an infant.

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_To be Continued . . ._

**So there you have it. Sorry that you all had to wait so long, but I was very busy with school, even though I'm already out for the summer. Anyways, I promise that the next update will have more action in it. Please read and review. Reviews are appreciated, flamer comments will be ignored. **

**Jutsus: **

**Wood Style: Splinter Spy Jutsu- **A jutsu that can only be used by Yamato. Yamato infuses a small amount of chakra into a splinter, and then implants it into his opponent's chakra network, where it can tell him the amount of chakra that is going to be used for a jutsu. Additionally, the jutsu can also alert Yamato where his opponent is going to attack him.

**Wood Style, Secret Jutsu: Birth of Dense Woodland- **The First Hokage's most famous jutsu, and the reason that the Village Hidden in the Leaves exists today. With this jutsu, Yamato can make trees grow on any surface, easily creating a dense forested area.

**Wood Style: Splinter Bomb Jutsu- **Another jutsu that Yamato created, which is also used in conjunction with the Splinter Spy Jutsu. Once the splinter is in his opponent's body, Yamato can use the chakra that's in the splinter to cause an explosion, causing major internal damage to the victim's body. The more chakra that Yamato infuses into the splinter, the bigger and deadlier the explosion is.

**Mystical Palms Jutsu- **A basic jutsu that used by medic ninja to heal wounds. Kabuto can use this technique, however, to cut through his opponent's muscles and organ systems.


	3. A One Sided Battle

**The Forgotten Prophecy **

**Hello again! Sorry for the long wait, but I've been really busy. Anyways, here's another update. Enjoy! I own nothing! **

'_Blah'_- inner thoughts

"Blah"** -** talking

'_**Blah' **_- demon/monster speaking

"**Blah" -** jutsu being performed

"**BLAH"** - really angry yelling

**#**- scene change

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**Chapter 3: **_**A One-Sided Battle **_

_The battle-scarred clearing _

Sasuke just stood there, completely calm, despite the fact that he had just killed the one person that he considered as his closest friend. He originally didn't want to kill Naruto, but the blonde had left the young avenger no other choice. Naruto was never going to leave him alone.

'_I hoped that Naruto was smarter than this, I really didn't want to kill him. But, I guess some people never change. At least now after this, I have the Mangekyo Sharingan.' _thought the Uchiha, as he stared into the lifeless eyes of Naruto Uzumaki. Suddenly, Naruto's body disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and was replaced with a log, covered with bomb scrolls. Realizing the danger that he was in, Sasuke, as well as Sakura and Sai, jumped as far away as they could from the log, just in the nick of time before it exploded, sending debris flying everywhere at dangerous speeds.

Sasuke, now with his sharingan activated, barely had a second to recover from the surprise attack when he sensed someone approaching him from his left side. Acting on his instincts and his kekkei genkai, Sasuke bent slightly backwards, just as Naruto flew by with a right punch. Sasuke counter attacked with a right punch of his own, successfully hitting his enemy in the face with a loud crack. But instead of being thrown back like he expected, Naruto disappeared in another cloud of smoke.

Suddenly sensing yet another presence behind him, Sasuke turned around to be met with . . . a punch to the face, which caused to temporarily lose his balance. But before he could regain his bearings, he felt three hard kicks that sent Sasuke flying. "**Na, Ru, To!" **were the voices Sasuke heard as flew higher in the air. Knowing what was about to come next, Sasuke turned to face the fifth Naruto clone, and in swift movement grabbed the clone by its leg, effectively stopping the attack. Then, with all of his might, the avenger threw the clone down to the ground, where it collided with the other four clones. To finish his attack, Sasuke went through the required hand signs for one his family's jutsus.

"**Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" **With a large intake of air, Sasuke spewed a huge ball of flames towards his targets, which where consumed by the fire in just seconds. Sasuke knew, however, that none of the five Naruto's on the ground were the original, as he had seen each one "poof" out of existence.

The real Naruto was standing a few yards away, hiding amongst the rubble observing the battle between his clones and Sasuke. He didn't like what he saw; Sasuke took care of his clones without so much as breaking a sweat. Suddenly, Sasuke appeared in front of him and delivered a hard punch to the stomach, sending the blond skidding back a few inches. Sasuke was about follow up with his attack, when his sharingan caught someone charging at him from his left. Sasuke jumped back as Sakura's fist missed his head and slammed down upon the ground, creating a medium-sized crater where Sasuke was previously standing. But Sakura wasn't finished with her former crush, as she charged once again with a charka-enhanced kick. Sasuke, still somewhat shocked at the ex-fan girl's improvement, dodged the attack effortless, causing the attack to miss and create another crater. As Sasuke increasing the distance between himself and the girl, he made a mental note to himself to make sure that Sakura never landed a punch or kick on him.

Sasuke was abruptly interrupted from his thoughts, once again, as he sensed several charka signatures drawing nearer from all around him. As he looked up he saw Sakura, a hundred Naruto's, and fifty Sai's charging towards him. Of course, Sasuke knew which Sai and Naruto was the original, but he was getting really pissed off with their antics, and decided to stop them with one huge strike. So Sasuke waited for his opponents to come closer, completely unaware that they were running into a trap.

As the army consisting of Naruto's, Sai's, and Sakura approached closer and closer towards their target, the original Naruto began to suspect that something was amiss. He knew that charging Sasuke from every angle wasn't really a good plan, but he didn't really know how to best handle the situation anymore. Sasuke's skills had improved drastically during his time away from the Leaf village, and Naruto was starting to feel the mission's pressure, which was making him more and more anxious to get it over with. Suddenly, Naruto's thoughts were unexpectedly brought to a halt when Sasuke's chakra began to spike up at a rapid state. He, the original Sai, and Sakura tried to break off the attack and retreat to a safer location, but Sasuke was slightly faster.

"**Chidori Current!" **Electricity first began to appear all around Sasuke's body. Then, without warning, it shot out in every direction possible, effectively stopping the upcoming "army". Sasuke's electrical current made quick work with the shadow and ink clones, dispelling them within instants when they came in contact with the it. The members of the new Squad 7 suddenly found themselves caught in a barrage of lightning bolts surging through their bodies.

Sasuke just smirked as he watched his opponents writhe as the lightning surged through their bodies. Their screams of agony gave him a small sense of satisfaction of all of his hard work and harsh training regime. After he had his fill with seeing his opponents, Sasuke ended the jutsu, and watched as Naruto, Sakura, and Sai collapse to the ground. But to his surprise, he saw that both Naruto and Sakura were still conscious. To his even greater surprise, Naruto was actually getting back up on his feet, while Sakura seemed to be having a difficult time moving. Sai, on the other hand, wasn't moving from the ground. Another thing that caught Sasuke's attention was that Naruto's body was slowly becoming surrounded by the same red chakra that the blonde used when he first attempted to stop him from leaving. Only this time, Naruto looked like he was trying to force the chakra back. When he looked into the blonde's eyes, Sasuke saw that kept on changing from blue to red, and then from red to blue.

'_There's the red chakra again. So that's how he was able to get up, the chakra must protected him from the full effects of my current. But something's different than the last time I saw it. It's as if he's fighting against it for control.' _thought Sasuke. _"__Let's just see what's going on with you Naruto.' _And with that, Sasuke, with his sharingan active, began to delve deeper into his former teammate's mind.

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_Naruto's mindscape_

It was a dark, cold, and wet room. There was a shallow pool of water on the floor that reached up to Naruto's ankles. Up in front of him was a huge opening that was blocked by two large barred gates. The gates were held shut with a small rectangular slip of paper that had the kanji for "Seal" written on it. Behind the bars, Naruto could see a large figure that was hidden in the darkness of its cage, with the only thing being visible was it's glowing red eyes. The creature was growling in a very menacing way that spelt a slow, painful death to any one once got free from its confinement. Most people would die of fear once if they ever saw such a site, but not Naruto. No, this was a place that Naruto had visited far too many times for his own liking. For this room was the prison cell that belonged to the Nine-Tailed Fox demon.

'_**Heh, it's you again.'**_ growled the large demon, in a very irritated tone. _**'Let me guess, you're fighting someone that's way out of your league, and you need my chakra to save your scrawny, little neck, right? Sheesh, you're weak! I would have thought that by now that you can fight your own battles without my help. But, it seems that I was wrong.' **_As soon as the fox finished his sentence, red chakra began to ooze out of the cage, and began to slither to where Naruto was standing. Knowing all to well what kind of affect that the fox's chakra could have on him, Naruto immediately brought his hands together and began to channel his own chakra all throughout his body, causing the red chakra to stop so that was merely seconds away from being absorbed by the blonde.

This did not sit well with the fox at all. _**'Why you ungrateful, insignificant mortal!' **_it snarled. _**'How dare you refuse my chakra, after all those times I let you use it in battle! I graciously lend you my unlimited power at any time that you want it, and this is how you thank me?!' **_

"Thank you?!" Naruto shouted, incredulously. "_**THANK YOU?! **_You turn my entire life into a living hellhole, try to take over body countless times, and cause me to severely injure Pervy Sage _and _Sakura, and you expect me to _thank you_?! Well, I've got news for you fur ball, you can just keep your chakra to yourself for all I care!'

This caused the great demon erupt into a loud, terrible, blood-thirsty laughter. _**'Ha! That's a good one! Have you forgotten that if weren't for me, you would have been dead a long time ago?'**_ it said in a pompous tone.

"That may have been the case when I was a kid, but I'm a lot stronger now. I don't need your chakra anymore, I can win my battles without your help!" hollered Naruto.

'_**Oh really? Is that why your opponent has already nearly beaten you into unconsciousness, without so much as breaking into a sweat?'**_ countered the giant fox. _**'Admit it, kit, you need my power to be strong. Without it, you're nothing more than a pathetic, idiotic weakling, who is so caught up with his little fantasy world that he fails to see the reality of his life.' **_

Naruto was taken back by that statement. He wanted to shout back at the demon, telling him that he was wrong. But deep down in his heart, Naruto knew that some of the things that the fox pointed out was true. He did use the fox's chakra whenever he was in a tough spot. And after his time with Jiraiya, he now knew how to access the chakra a lot better than he did when he was thirteen. He had promised himself that he would only use the chakra in emergencies. But lately, Naruto found himself using it very frequently when he was battling Orochimaru and the Akatsuki. _'What if it's right? Am I really dependent on this thing's power? After everything that I went through, am I still that weak?' _Naruto thought.

"Well, well, well Naruto, who knew that you had such a monster inside of you." sounded a voice that seemed all too familiar, coming from behind him. But the voice also belonged to a person that Naruto had never expected to be in his mindscape. As he turned around to see who was behind him, he was greeted with the sight of none other than Sasuke Uchiha.

Naruto was shocked to see Sasuke here with him. He was about to ask how the wayward Leaf nin had gotten into his mind in the first place, when Sasuke, as if by reading his mind, the answer ready for the blonde.

"Looking into one's mind is just one of the many abilities that the sharingan grants me." answered Sasuke, who then turned his attention back to the giant fox that was trapped behind the bars. Like any normal male fox defending his own territory, the demon fox took some of the chakra that was trying to absorb Naruto, and redirected it towards the Uchiha, with every intention of destroying the intruder. The fox and Naruto were both shocked to see Sasuke suddenly called forth an enormous amount of purple chakra around his body, effectively stopping the approaching red chakra in its tracks.

_**'**__**You, **_growled the demon, _**'your chakra feels quite familiar, like I've sensed before. But that's impossible, since the only other human that has chakra that's as dark and malevolent as yours is Madara Uchiha, and he should be dead by now.' **_

Sasuke ignored what the fox said and began to increase his chakra output, which caused the chakra that was trying to absorb both Naruto and Sasuke to shrink back towards the demon's cage.

"In case you have forgotten, Naruto, we have unfinished business to attend to in the real world." said Sasuke without any hint of emotion, as he continued to force the red chakra back to its source. As the chakra was pushed further and further towards the fox, the image of the flooded sewer-like cage began to fade, but not before the fox said one last thing

'_**Uchiha, don't kill Naruto. You'll regret in the future.' **_were the last things that it growled before the entire area faded with a bright light.

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_The battle-scarred clearing _

Naruto suddenly found himself standing in the real world, once again. As looked around he saw that Sai was laying face down on the ground, and that he wasn't really moving. Naruto didn't know if he was unconscious or not. Sakura was also on the ground, but unlike Sai, Naruto could tell that she was still awake and was trying to get to her feet. Finally, the blonde's eyes set themselves on Sasuke, who just stood there with an emotionless expression on his face.

"Naruto," he began, "this is your last chance, pick up your fallen comrades and leave at once. I've already incapacitated your teammates so you can't rely on them to help you out of difficult situations. And even think about calling upon the demon's strength to give yourself an extra edge. I've already cut you off, so now there's will nothing left to protect yourself from my attacks."

Naruto ignored Sasuke's warnings and charged him with every intention of severely beating the Uchiha. Sasuke, on the other hand, just stood there, looking somewhat disappointed. As soon as Naruto was in range of his target, he attacked with a high right round kick to Sasuke's head, but was blocked with the Uchiha's left mid-block. Using his remaining momentum, Naruto continued to turn backwards in a counterclockwise motion and struck out with a left hook kick, but was unable to block the low left sweeping kick that Sasuke sent towards his remaining foot that was on the ground. The sneak attack caused Naruto to lose his balance, which left his chest open to Sasuke's right palm heel strike, which sent skidding backwards. As Naruto slid to a stop, Sasuke charged towards him with his sword drawn. Sasuke attacked with a right diagonal slash aimed at his neck, which was blocked Naruto's kunai. Naruto then stuck back with right uppercut which was blocked effortlessly, and countered with an left front kick, which was blocked with Naruto's right shin. Naruto tried a different approach with a head butt, but was met a head butt from Sasuke, creating a stand-still between the two fighters.

"You know, Naruto," said Sasuke in his usual cocky tone, "I was expecting that you would have improved during our time apart, even if it was a small bit, but I'm greatly disappointed in you. You haven't changed at all. You're nothing but the same juvenile moron that you were two-and-a-half years ago." That remark caused Naruto's anger to boil dangerously. "Aww, what's the matter? Did I make the village's demon angry?" the traitor asked mockingly.

That was the last straw for Naruto. With all of his strength, Naruto pushed Sasuke away and charged with a barrage of kicks and punches at alarming pace. Sasuke dodged each strike with relative ease, until Sasuke stabbed Naruto through his chest is sword. What surprised Sasuke was that the Naruto he had just killed was yet another shadow clone. Relying on his sharing an, Sasuke sensed someone approaching from behind. Unfortunately for him, Naruto a bit faster has he landed a hard left round kick on the back of the head. Naruto thought that he landed the attack, but was suddenly mistaken when Sasuke dissolved into thousands of little snakes.

Suddenly, without warning, the real Sasuke rocketed out of the ground and landed an uppercut of his own, right on Naruto's chin, sending him flying upwards until he crash-landed on the raised flat ledge that was higher up the cliff. As Naruto tried to get to his feet, he stumbled and fell down again and saw that he was nearly inches away from falling off the edge and onto an area filled with thousands of sharp stalagmites.

'_Yikes! I was almost a goner for a second there.' _thought the blonde, before his instincts alerted of an attacker approaching him from above. The very second that Naruto jumped out of the way, Sasuke landed one the very spot his opponent was with a loud crash, creating a small crater on the surface that he was standing on. _'His speed and strength,' _thought Naruto, _'it as if he's not even human anymore. I don't think I can fight him on my own. I sure wish that Sakura or Sai would wake up soon so that they can help.' _

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_The battle-scarred clearing _

Meanwhile, back at the clearing, Sakura was still trying to treat the injuries that she endured from Sasuke's last attack. It took her a full five minutes for her to be able to move her arms, let alone manipulate her chakra. She was still healing the damage on her legs that was caused by the electricity. But she knew that she didn't have the luxury to take her time with the healing process, as she saw the entire battle between her ex-crush and the former annoying teammate. She knew that Naruto was in trouble, and that he needed help immediately. Unfortunately, she still needed a few more minutes of healing in order for her to regain full mobility. To make matters worse, the wise-ass Sai was out like a light, and it didn't look like he was going to wake up any time soon.

"Goddammit, this isn't supposed to be like this!" Sakura growled angrily, as she watched the one-sided fight take place on the raised ledge of the cliff. It pained her to watch as her blonde teammate get pummeled by the raven-haired boy. "Naruto," she said to herself, "please hang on just a bit longer. I'll be there as soon as I can."

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_The raised ledge _

Sasuke landed yet another back fist on Naruto's head, causing the blonde to stumble back a few inches. He was covered with bloody cuts, bruises, and dirt. His opponent, on the other hand, only had a scratch on his right cheek, a torn left shirt sleeve, and a horizontal slash across his back. Just like before, Sasuke had that "I'm a god compared to you" look plastered on his face. The same look that Sasuke always showed whenever Naruto made a mistake during missions.

"This . . . isn't over, Sasuke, not by a long shot." panted Naruto, who was already feeling the effects of fatigue on his body.

"Hn, please spare me." said Sasuke said scathingly. "Just accept the facts: I will always have power at my command, and you will always be an idiotic loser.

Suddenly, with the last bit energy that he had left Naruto sped towards Sasuke with speeds that the traitor never expected someone like Naruto to possess. But this surprise didn't seem to phase Sasuke at all. Instead, he just thrust his sword down in the dirt and crouched down so that he was on one knee, and waited for Naruto get in range. Just as Naruto was in striking range, he suddenly accelerated again, with a small spiraling sphere made of chakra in his right hand.

"**Rasengan!" **roared Naruto, as thrust the chakra sphere towards Sasuke's chest.

"**Chidori Current!" **was Sasuke's reply as electricity began to once again spark out of his body in every direction. The two attacks clashed with a loud bang. At first it seemed as if the two ninja were in a stalemate, but Naruto was slowly being pushed back by Sasuke's electricity. Naruto tried to gain the upper hand, but the electricity was already pushing his body to the limit. Sasuke wanted to end this immediately, so with one final effort, he increased the electricity's intensity, causing his blonde opponent to shout in pain as his body received the maximum amount of damage the jutsu. The sudden increase in electricity also caused Naruto's Rasengan to explode with a huge bang, sending the blonde hurtling over the edge of the cliff. Sasuke just smirked as he watched Naruto's form fall down from the ledge and to his demise. He had finally gotten rid of that annoying pest once and for all.

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_With Naruto _

Naruto knew that he was in huge trouble when he started to fell his Rasengan become unstable from the constant barrage of electricity. The only problem was that both his legs and left arm were paralyzed. His situation only got worse when the chakra sphere exploded and sent him careening towards a very pointy and painful death. Naruto knew that he had do something or he would really become a human shish kabob. With his remaining movable limb, Naruto drew a kunai from his pouch, and stabbed into the cliff's wall with all of his might. After experiencing the abrupt change in his velocity, Naruto stopped with whack against the side of the cliff. The blonde then proceeded to look down in order to see how much farther he had to go before he fell to his death, and saw that he still had a long ways to go before his body became skewered by the many pointy stalagmites down below.

'_Whew! Man, that was close! It's a good thing that I can still use my right arm, but I don't know what good it will do for me, since the rest of my body is paralyzed by that bastard's electricity. When I get out of this, I'm going to give Kakashi Sensei a piece of my mind about teaching Sasuke that damned Chidori in the first place.' _thought Naruto, as soon began to feel the strain of his arm keeping his temporarily immobile body from falling. As he looked to where he was once standing, he realized that he was a few feet away from the top. _"Well, this is just great! How am I supposed to get back up there with only one arm?' _

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_With Sakura and Sasuke _

Sasuke got up from his kneeling position, and pulled his sword out from the ground. He didn't bother to look over the edge to make sure that Naruto was done for, because he already knew that the blonde didn't have a chance of surviving. His Chidori Current had made Naruto completely paralyzed, so he had no way of using ninjutsu in order to escape his dilemma. Plus, with the spiky surface that was waiting for him at the bottom, Naruto was as good as dead.

'_Finally, Naruto will no longer get in my way of finally making my dream a reality.' _thought Sasuke, who was thoroughly pleased at how he had gotten rid of that blonde "thorn in his side".

Sakura just stood there on the clearing, horrified at what she had just seen. She had just finished healing most of her injuries so that she was able to fight and move about. She then proceeded to check up on Sai to make sure that he was still alive. Luckily, the artist nin was only knocked out, and was breathing on his own. It was at that moment when she heard Naruto screaming in pain. When she looked up at raised ledge, she saw Naruto trying in vain to cut through Sasuke's Chidori Current. A second later, Sakura witnessed the Rasengan explode and throw Naruto over the edge.

She couldn't believe it. Sasuke, the boy that she used to fawn over every chance that she got, had just killed Naruto, and seemed to have no regrets whatsoever. In fact, Sasuke looked as if he was relieved to finally be rid of the blonde. Several emotions began race through her heart: regret, for the way she got on Naruto's case and how she still wasn't able to help him fight Sasuke; sadness, since she would never be able to apologize to him nor would she ever hear his cheerful voice ever again; and anger, for not listening to Naruto's advice and how easily Sasuke killed probably the best friend that Sakura could ever ask for. All of Sakura's hopes to peacefully convince Sasuke into coming back home were completely destroyed. All that remained was newfound anger and hatred towards the raven-haired man. She didn't care about the potential intelligence about Orochimaru that he could possibly have; she didn't care that he was once a member of their team, all she cared about now was causing the traitor as much pain as she could possibly inflict before she dragged his ass back to Konoha. Gathering as much chakra the she could possibly muster, she leapt to the raised ledge.

"**SASUKE!" **screamed Sakura, as she landed on the ledge, all the while manipulating allof the chakra that she could gather into her fists. **"YOU HEARTLESS, MURDERING, SON OF A BITCH! YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR KILLING NARUTO!!" **And with a enraged battle cry, she charged towards her former crush. Sasuke just turned around, looking really annoyed with the girl that was out for his blood. Instead of running forward to counter Sakura head on, he just stood there and waited for the right moment to attack, all the while gathering chakra to his right arm. Suddenly, he saw his opportunity.

"**Striking Shadow Snakes!" **With a swift movement of his arm, five huge snakes came shooting out of his shirt sleeve at incredible speeds. Before the medic could react in time, the snakes wrapped themselves around Sakura's body, pinning her arms to her sides and her legs together. Then the snakes began to constrict until Sakura was unable to move and fell to the ground with a thud.

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_With Naruto. _

As Naruto's ascend began to slow down, he grabbed an other kunai and stabbed it into the cliff's wall, once again. It didn't take long for Naruto to come up with a plan on how he was going to get back to the top of the ledge. All he needed was several kunai knives, and a lot of precise chakra manipulation. Since his left arm and legs were still immobile, all that he had left to work with was his right arm. Additionally, his chakra was already starting to regenerate thanks to his nearly limitless stamina and the fox's influence. The plan was actually quite simple: Naruto would first summon a large amount of chakra and then focus it in his right arm. Then, he would pull himself up as hard as he could, which ended up flinging himself up the cliff. Whenever he started to slow down and fall back down, he would grab another kunai knife and anchor himself at his new height.

It was a tiring process, but he was making very good progress. But, new problems began to arise. The first was that he was out of kunai, and he still had a couple of feet left to go. The second one was that his arm felt as if it was about to pop out of its joint, due to the strain of keeping his entire body from falling to his death.

'_Great, now what am I going to do? Maybe Sakura was right, I still act recklessly. I should have put a little more thought into this plan before I started.'_ thought Naruto. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice.

"**SASUKE, YOU HEARTLESS, MURDERING, SON OF A BITCH! YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR KILLING NARUTO!!" **

Naruto couldn't believe his ears. Sakura thought that Sasuke actually killed him, and by judging the tone of her voice, she was extremely angry with him. And she was even going to pound him for it. Then, the blonde heard something that made his blood run cold.

"**Striking Shadow Snakes!"**

After being the victim of that particular jutsu several times before, Naruto knew that Sakura was in a lot of trouble.

'_SAKURA! This is bad! If I don't do something fast, that asshole will kill her!!' _he thought, frantically. Without a second thought, Naruto summoned all of the chakra that he could muster into his right arm, and with a mighty yank, he sent himself flying towards the top, determined to save Sakura, even if it meant sacrificing his life in the process.

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"Now, now Sakura, don't think that I've forgotten about you." said Sasuke as looked down at struggling form below him. The person who was currently tied up by large snakes was a lot different than the one that knew a long time. Sasuke was surprised that this super strong kunoichi was once the most annoying and weakest member of Squad 7. He was still shocked that she was actually willing to attack him to avenge Naruto's death.

'_She sure has changed a lot.'_ Sasuke thought to himself, as he lifted the tied up Sakura, who was still struggling to free herself from the serpentine bindings, so that she was at eye value with him. The moment she was, however, she just glared at him, and immediately spat in his face, making her hatred towards the Uchiha apparent. In spite of this, Sasuke just smirked her, which caused the girl to get even angrier.

"**SASUKE, YOU BASTARD!**" she screamed at him, as she continued to try and free herself, but was finally forced to stop when the snakes constricted until she was almost suffocating.

"Oh please, don't tell me that you're _really _this angry just because I killed that loser, Naruto, now is it?." sneered Sasuke. Sakura's glare intensified, as if to say '_HELL, YEAH I AM!'. _Sasuke just laughed. "I don't believe it, that moron actually means that much to you? The same person who you said was the one person that you hated the most in the world, on the very first day that we met as Squad 7? The same loud, annoying, simple-minded peon that held us back, constantly made a fool out of himself, and was practically a living mockery of what a real shinobi is like? Well then, if you really feel that strongly about Naruto, then I'll be happy to reunite the both of you in hell." he finished, as prepared to lop the pink-haired chunin's head off. But before Sasuke could deliver the final strike, his sharingan sensed a very faint chakra signature approaching on his far left, over the edge of the raised area. A second later, both Sasuke and Sakura saw a right hand rise over the top of the edge and grab hold of it. It didn't take the two shinobi long to figure out who the hand belonged to.

"_What does it take to make this idiot give up already? He is starting to get on my last nerves.' _thought Sasuke as he dropped the snake-bounded Sakura, and approached towards the hand, his sword still drawn.

"Naruto, get away from that spot, right now! Sasuke is going to kill you!" Sakura shouted frantically, as she tried even harder to get free from the accursed snakes.

"Dammit! I can't let it end like this!" Naruto said to himself. "I didn't spend two and a half years training with Pervy Sage for nothing! I have to keep going, and keep my promise to. . . AARGH!" A sharp pain erupted from Naruto's right hand, causing him to shout out in agony. When he looked up to see what the cause of the sudden pain was, he saw none other than Sasuke, with his foot on top of his hand. The Uchiha prodigy was looking down at Naruto with his sharing an activated, and look on his face that promised the blonde a very painful death.

_To Be Continued . . . _

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**Is this the end for our blonde hero? Can Sasuke still be saved from Orochimaru's influence? And what about Yamato, what has become of him? You can find out in the next installment of **_**The Forgotten Prophecy**_**! Reviews are appreciated, flamers will be used as toilet paper. **

**P.S., only the made up ninjutsus will be explained from now on, the others can looked up at **_**naruto. wikia. com. **_

**Jutsus/Techniques(in the order they appeared): **

**Substitution Jutsu **

**Shadow Clone Jutsu **

**Naruto Uzumaki Barrage **

**Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu **

**Strong Arm **

**Painful Sky Leg**

**Ink Clone Jutsu **

**Chidori Current **

**Snake clone Jutsu **

**Rasengan **

**Striking Shadow Snakes**


	4. Lost Common Sense

**The Forgotten Prophecy **

**Hello again! Here's another update. I own nothing! **

'_Blah'_- inner thoughts

"Blah"** -** talking

'_**Blah' **_- demon/monster speaking

"**Blah" -** jutsu being performed

"**BLAH"** - really angry yelling

**# **- scene change

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**Chapter 4: Lost Common Sense **

"Now do you see, Naruto?" said Sasuke, smiling arrogantly down at Naruto, as he dug his heel further into Naruto's hand, resulting in the jinchuriki to cry out in pain. "Now do you see why I left? Those fools at the Leaf Village could have never given me the power that I needed, the power that I so righteously deserve. If I had stayed there, Itachi would always be more powerful than me. But it won't be like that for long.

"Now, after training with Orochimaru for nearly three years, I am closer to accomplishing my goal than I have ever been. And once I finally kill _him_, I will restore the Uchiha clan back to its former glory! While you, on the other hand, Naruto, have amounted to nothing. Despite your training with that sad excuse of a ninja, Jiraiya, you still come up short when it comes to talent and skill. Yet, you still deny this reality and delude yourself into thinking that someone as pathetic as you can still make something out of himself.

"Why can't you just face facts?" asked Sasuke, smugly. "It's actually quite simple. No matter what you do, no matter how long you train, you will always be **weak!**"

Suppressing the urge to respond to the Uchiha's remarks, Naruto tried to desperately to think of a way to get himself out of the perilous situation that he was in. Sasuke's current had left him with only his right arm that still retained its full mobility, and that was underneath his enemy's foot. As of now, he had two options: 1) being killed by Sasuke or, 2) falling and getting impaled by the many spikes that were below him. Neither of them sounded very pleasing to Naruto.

'_Is this really how I'm going to die, at the hands of Sasuke, my brother? No, it can't be! I've got so many things that I still want to do with my life: get promoted to jonin, finally become Hokage, tell Sakura how I really feel about her . . . Wait a minute' _thought Naruto, _what was Sakura talking about while we were in the tunnels?'_

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_Flashback _

"Please Sakura, just hear me out." interrupted Naruto, "I'm just saying is that Sasuke isn't going to take this retrieval mission kindly. He would most likely see this in a negative manner and do anything to stay with Orochimaru, even if means killing whoever tries to take him away from his training. So if he _does _fight us with the intention of killing us, I think that we might have to rough him up a bit, even if it means that I have to . . ."

"NO!" shouted Sakura, "Please, don't say anymore! You don't know that Sasuke's like that! Just because Sasuke left the village to train under Orochimaru doesn't mean that he's now a cold-blooded murderer. Furthermore, don't you think that we should at least try to reason with him before we attack him? I mean, we can't just go charging in, recklessly, and hope that everything works for the best, Naruto. We should least _try_ to talk Sasuke out of his apprenticeship with that snake monster, not nearly beat him to death. . .

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_With Naruto_

'_That's it. Maybe Sakura's right, maybe we've been going at this the wrong way. I might as well give her idea a try, it's the only chance that I've got.'_ thought Naruto. He then turned to look Sasuke straight in the eye, which caught the avenger slightly off guard. The normal fiery determination that was always in his eyes was gone, which was now replaced with a depressed, downtrodden expression.

"Your right, Sasuke, I am weak." said Naruto. Sasuke was surprised to hear this coming from Naruto of all people. He had originally expected to hear him spout out nonsense about how he was still going to defeat him, but for Naruto to admit defeat was something that Sasuke thought would never happen. Then again, he was about to die, so it made sense that the blonde would give up now.

Sakura thought that she was hearing things, there was no way that Naruto would admit defeat to Sasuke. She always saw Naruto as unbreakable pillar of determination, never willing to give up, no matter how hard the challenge. It crushed her, just seeing someone like him so broken.

'_Naruto, I'm so sorry.'_ she thought sadly, _'This is all my fault. If I has only listened to you in the first place, then maybe we would be in this mess.' _

Sasuke, however, just started to chuckle, which then transformed into a loud maniacal laughter. "Well it's about damn time that you finally accepted the truth. It's just too bad that you won't be able to learn from this new information." he sneered.

"Yes, it's true." said Naruto. "Even after all of my training with Pervy Sage, I'm still no match for you. But at least I can say that I achieved my skills through hard work and diligence, instead of getting stronger the same way that a cowardly, power-hungry psychopath would!"

This angered the avenger even more, which he made obvious by digging his heal even deeper into Naruto's hand. "How dare you! How dare you call me a coward! Who do you think you are?! You actually think that you know anything about my life?! You have absolutely no idea of what I've been through to get this far! I was originally going to make your death a quick and painless one, but now you've convinced me otherwise ." snarled Sasuke, as began to call forth large amounts of chakra. As he was doing so, Naruto noticed that several dark clouds were beginning to form around the Uchiha. As the clouds began to increase, Naruto could the hear loud booms of thunder emitting from them, and knew that was never a good sign.

"Sasuke, wait!" Naruto shouted suddenly, catching the Uchiha's attention. "Please, just hear me out, let me finish what I was going to say. After I'm done, then you can finish me off in any fashion that you want."

Sasuke knew that whatever Naruto was about to say was never going to have any affect on him whatsoever. He knew that he could easily deny Naruto's last request, and destroy him with the most deadliest jutsu that he had ever created. But for some reason, a part of him wanted to hear what the blonde was trying to say. After weighing out his possibilities, Sasuke decided to since that Naruto was about to die anyways, then the least that he could do was listen to what his former teammate had to say.

"Make it quick" growled Sasuke as he stopped the flow chakra, causing the thunder to stop, and the clouds to slowly begin to fade away at a extremely sluggish rate.

"You're right," began Naruto, "I don't know anything at all about what your life was like. And, I know that I'll never understand what it's like to lose your entire family, even though I never understood what it was like to have a family to begin with."

Sasuke was already getting annoyed, he had expected Naruto to give some sort of grand speech, but instead he was just spouting of common knowledge that the Uchiha already knew. If the rest of what Naruto had to say was going to be like this, then he was just going to behead the jinchuriki right then and there. Sakura, on the other hand, was lost for words. At first, she was terrified when Sasuke was gathering his chakra for a jutsu that seemed to have the power to completely destroy the entire cliff side. But now, she was confused as to what Naruto was doing, as well as being really scared at how Sasuke could easily ended the genin's life in an instant.

'_What is Naruto doing? _thought Sakura, as she tried to once again to free herself from the snakes. _'I just hope that he can stall Sasuke long enough for me to get free.'_

"Still, even though I have no idea what life with your family, I know for a fact that wouldn't want you to be like this, Sasuke. In fact, they would be rolling in their graves if they saw what you've become." said Naruto.

Sasuke responded by lifting his foot up, and then bringing back down hard on Naruto's hand, which caused the jinchuriki to shout in pain ,and the ground beneath the blonde's hand to crack. "You've got some nerve, talking about my family like that, loser." sneered Sasuke. "The Uchihas were the elite, the superior of all ninja. Our power was both feared and respected all throughout the world. I'm just merely doing what any honorable Uchiha would do."

"Oh yeah?," countered Naruto. "Since when is becoming an apprentice to a back-stabbing, traitorous psycho considered to be honorable?! Why can't you see what's really happening? The curse mark is warping your sanity and destroying the person you once were."

"You're wrong!" shouted Sasuke as he applied more pressure to his foot, causing the ledge to crack again. "I'm in complete control of this curse mark! This mark has given me more power than I could ever imagine. And with this power, Itachi will finally pay for his crimes, and I will finally avenge my entire clan!"

"Alright," started Naruto, who was starting to get discouraged with Sasuke's persistence, "suppose that you kill us all right now, and then you somehow successfully kill your brother, then what? What are you going to do afterwards? Have you even thought that maybe using the curse mark would have serious side affects that Orochimaru never told you about? Suppose that the curse mark makes you sterile, or reduces you to a mentally unstable crackpot, or even permanently mutates you into some hideous freak? Then what will you do? How will you revive your precious clan if every sensible woman knows that you're too dangerous to be around?"

"**ENOUGH!** I've listened to your senseless babbling long enough! Since you seem to be so interested in my curse mark, I'll make sure that it's the last thing that you'll ever see!" said Sasuke, with a sadistic sneer on his face. He then focused his chakra on the left side of his neck, where the curse mark was branded into his skin, causing small, black, flame-like marks to slowly begin to cover his body. Upon seeing this, Naruto quickly got an idea. He waited until the marks made it half way across Sasuke's face, when Naruto suddenly looked up, and positioned his head so that his headband was facing Sasuke, acting as a temporary mirror.

As Sasuke looked down into Naruto's headband, he gave a startled shout and recoiled slightly at the sight of his own reflection. It was the first time that Sasuke had ever seen himself activate his curse mark, and he didn't like what he saw. For a brief moment, he could have sworn that he saw Orochimaru's smirking face staring right back at him. This caused the avenger to close his eyes and shake his head, hoping that he was just seeing things. When he opened his eyes again, he saw his own reflection again, but he was still mentally shaken from the experience, the shock still visible on his face.

"Look at yourself, Sasuke! Look at what your lust for power has turned you into!" shouted Naruto. Sasuke said nothing as he stared at his own reflection, still speechless at how monstrous he looked. "Do you finally see what I've been trying to tell you since you first left Leaf?! You've been blinded with your quest for revenge for so long, that you sacrificed your dignity, and went against everything that your mom, dad, and your fellow clansmen believed in!

"**SHUT UP!" **snarled Sasuke as applied more pressure to his leg, causing the ground beneath Naruto's hand to weaken even more. "You know nothing about the Uchiha clan! We Uchiha always believed in a strict code of honor and strong familial ties. Itachi is nothing more but a traitor, a disgrace to the entire clan and everything that it stood for! If I plan on restoring my clan, I have to make sure that _**he **_is dead, so that he can no longer ruin my clan's reputation!"

"But, don't you see? You've been so caught up with killing Itachi, that you've become just like him, hell, maybe even something worse." said Naruto.

"**I'M NOTHING LIKE THAT MURDERER!!" **

"I beg to differ! You isolated yourself from your peers so that you can train on your own, you defected from your home village, _and_ you tried to kill me just so that you could get the Mangekyo Sharingan! Are you sure that you and Itachi have nothing in common?!"

Sasuke's eyes widened at that remark. Despite Naruto's reputation of spouting of nonsense 24/7, his last remark did hold some truth. As Sasuke thought of his past actions, he realized that all of the things that he did up to this present situation was almost exactly what Itachi would have done. It sickened him. After he vowed to be a better man than his brother, here he was; having Naruto in defenseless position with a sword's strike away from achieving the Mangekyo Sharingan. It was the same situation that Itachi experienced seven years ago, before he reduced the Uchiha clan down to two members.

'_How could this have happened? When . . .' _thought a distraught Sasuke, his sword trembling in his grip, _'when did I lose myself completely? How could I have become so blind that I didn't see what I've turned into?' _

Sakura_, _who was still struggling to get free, still had no idea on what the blonde was trying to do. _'This isn't like him at all. It's as if he's trying to . . . Wait a minute!' _thought the medic nin, _'Is he actually going with my first plan, or is he just stalling for time?' _Whatever Naruto was doing, Sakura just hoped that she could save him before Sasuke would finally get fed up and end his life.

"Sasuke," began Naruto, "I know that it hurts having your entire family murdered by your own brother, and that you'll never be able to move on until you avenge your clan, but sacrificing your sanity and honor for power isn't the right way to do it. Your parents loved you, and wouldn't want you, their own son, to be like this. You don't have to walk the dark path of the avenger anymore. It's not too late, you can still leave Orochimaru and come back to Leaf with us"

"**LIAR!" **screamed Sasuke. "You know damn well that I can't go back to Leaf, not after I defected from Leaf, and became a missing nin nearly three years ago. They would execute me the moment I walk past the outer gates!"

"You don't know that for sure, Sasuke." said Naruto. "Sure, you might have to work hard to earn some of the village's respect back, but at least you'll be amongst friends, people that you can depend upon whenever you need help. Plus, if your back at Leaf, you'll have a better chance of finding your brother, since he is after the demon that's sealed inside me."

"You can't guarantee that! Besides, if I leave now, then all of my hard work will be for nothing! I can't just quit, not after everything that I went through to get this far."

"But if you don't leave now, then you won't have the chance to fight your brother at all! Do you really think that Orochimaru is just going to ignore this little encounter? No, he won't! It'll just convince him to destroy your free will and take possession of your body before anything else happens!"

Sasuke couldn't speak, for the first time since he left Leaf, he was unsure at what he should do. Part of him was screaming for him to listen to Naruto and go back home, while another part of him ordered him to ignore the blonde and kill the Leaf nin that dared to take him away from his source of power.

"I . . . can't. I've gone too far, I can't turn back." Sasuke finally replied in a strained voice.

"Yes you can!" retorted Naruto. "You're Sasuke Uchiha, the "Rookie of the Year" from our class, a Leaf ninja, and most importantly, the last hope of the Uchiha clan. Sasuke, I'm begging you, as your teammate and your friend, forget the snake bastard and come back to Leaf. Please, if not for me, then do it for Sakura, Kakashi Sensei, and your parents! Please, Sasuke, break free from the darkness that's inside you!"

Sasuke clenched his eyes with a strained expression on his face, as he thought about everything that Naruto had just said to him. Now thousands of thoughts began to swim in Sasuke's mind, making the Uchiha was really confused at what he should do. He knew that Naruto was right, but he still wanted to stay and get stronger. Then he remembered his last moments with his parents: his mother saying that she and his father always talked about him when they were alone; his father complimenting him on successfully performing the Fireball Jutsu, as well as his advice to not follow in his brother's footsteps. He also thought at what their reaction would be if they could see him now, and realized that Naruto was right, they would be ashamed at what he had done.

''_Mother, Father . . . I'm so sorry.' _thought Sasuke as he began to suppress the curse mark, and subconsciously took a step back, removing his foot of Naruto's hand.

Naruto was confused at Sasuke's actions. At first, he thought that Sasuke had come to his senses and was going to help him up. But when the Uchiha just stood there, looking "zoned-out", he knew that something was amiss. So, Naruto tried to pull himself up on his own, but found this impossible since he could still only move his right arm. Suddenly he heard cracking noise, and felt the his hold on the cliff jerk slightly. When he looked up, he saw that the edge that he was holding to was cracked and was merely seconds away from breaking. That's when it all came together; Sasuke didn't change his mind, he was just going to let Naruto fall to his death.

Sakura was more puzzled than before when she saw Sasuke step off of Naruto's hand, while the Uchiha's curse mark began to recede. She, like Naruto, thought that her friend had done the impossible and convinced Sasuke to come back home. Her hopes, however, were quickly destroyed when she heard the edge cracking, and realized that Naruto was in a lot of trouble, and tried even harder to break free.

"So this is it, huh?" said Naruto, catching Sakura's attention, whist Sasuke kept on staring into space. "This is how it's going to end? After all of the trials that we faced together as a team, after all of the missions we completed, this is how you want to end it? Does Squad 7 really mean that little to you?!"

Sasuke said nothing, as he was still caught up in his own thoughts. Unfortunately, Naruto perceived Sasuke's silence as a "yes". At that point, Naruto knew right then and there that he was about to die, and there was absolutely nothing that he could do about it. The blonde felt lower than crap. He gave it his all to make sure that this mission was accomplished, and he still ended up failing horribly. The only times that he ever felt this low was during his academy days, the time he froze during his first B-ranked mission, and his failure of retrieving Sasuke that first time around.

"Man, I'm such an idiot!" said Naruto in a depressed voice, that was full of self-loathing and despair. This sudden change in attitude caught Sakura by surprise and caused her to stop struggling so that she could hear what he was saying. Sasuke still remained unmoving.

"I can't believe that I've fooled myself for so long!" the blonde continued. "I should have listened to Pervy Sage, and all of the others. Any fool can see that the person I once knew has been dead for a long time. Because if the _real _Sasuke was still alive today, he'd know the right thing to do!"

Suddenly, there was a loud crack and Naruto felt himself jerk down a little. The noise brought Sasuke out his thoughts and back into the real world. As he looked down, he saw Naruto hanging on for dear life. Since he was still in a daze, it took him a while for him to realize the trouble that the blonde was in, and that he had to act fast.

"Naruto, don't . . . !" shouted Sasuke as he dropped his sword, and made to grab hold of Naruto's hand. But just as his hand was about grab hold of the blonde, the edge finally gave way, causing Sauske to miss Naruto by only a few seconds. As Naruto began his descent to his death, the last thing that Sasuke saw was the defeated expression that Naruto had, before he began to fall head first towards the bottom.

"NO!" shouted Sasuke, as he watched in horror as Naruto's form began to get smaller and smaller as he fell further towards the spikes. Sasuke was horrified at what he had done. Naruto was his closest friend that was looking out for him, and now he was falling to his death, and it was all thanks to the Uchiha.

'_This is all my fault!' _he thought. _'I've already lost so much already, including my pride and honor, but I'll be damned if I let Naruto die because of my foolishness. But how am I going to get to him when he's already so far down? . . . I guess I have no other choice but to use __**that **__jutsu. I just that I've worked out all of the kinks.' _

Meanwhile, Sakura was still frozen from shock. She just couldn't believe it, Naruto was really dead, and she couldn't do a damn thing to save him. She had promised herself that she would be more involved in this mission, and now she eating her own words. To make matters worse, she never got her chance to make things right with her teammate before he fell to his death.

'_No! This can't be happening! Naruto can't be dead, he just can't be!!' _though Sakura, as she tried in vain to convince herself that Naruto was alright. _'I know Naruto better than anyone else, he always surprises his enemies with a sneak attack that they never expect. That's got to be what he's up to, it has to be. There's just no way that he could have . . .' _

"No, Naruto!" screamed Sakura, as she began to thrash and flail with all of her might, trying to desperately get herself free from the snakes. "Let me go, you cold-hearted bastard, let me go!!"

"Sakura, stop it." said Sasuke suddenly, causing the pinkette to stop her struggling momentarily. "Don't worry, Naruto is **not** going to die. Just leave everything to me." he said, without turning to Sakura. Suddenly, Sasuke leaped off the edge and began to dive down after Naruto.

"AND JUST HOW DOES THAT HELP ANYONE??" shouted Sakura, who was now even more confused as to what was going on.

**444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444 **

_With Naruto _

The wind was rushing past his face. He felt his body's velocity increasing with every second that went by. Hell, he could practically see the spikes down below, slowly becoming larger and larger, but none of that mattered to Naruto anymore. In fact, Naruto didn't care if he died or not, since he had already deemed himself unworthy of continuing on with his pathetic life. Naruto knew that he was looked down upon by most shinobi, but the one thing that he took pride in was the fact that he always kept his promises. But now, he felt like the most pathetic excuse of a ninja ever to walk the face of the Earth. Not only had he failed at his mission, but he had failed the village, his friends, and most importantly, Sakura. It just seemed that he could never do anything right.

'_This is it._ _I have failed for the last time.' _thought Naruto sadly, as he closed his eyes, and waited for his eminent demise.

"Naruto!!" was the voice that suddenly sounded above him. Curious to who the voice belonged to, Naruto looked up to see who was calling his name. What he saw completely surprised him.

"Sasuke?" he said to himself. Naruto thought that he was hallucinating as he saw Sasuke hurtling towards him, with a look of determination in his eyes. At first, he thought that Sasuke was going to kill him, but the Uchiha's next statement convinced him otherwise.

"Naruto, hang on, I'm coming!" shouted Sasuke, as he moved into position where he would be more aerodynamic and be able catch up to Naruto.

As quickly as it came, the depression was replaced with pure delight. He did succeed in convincing Sasuke to leave the snake bastard after all. He had kept his promise to Sakura. With a joyful laugh, Naruto turned his body around so that he was falling with his back facing the ground, effectively slowing his descent.

"Yes! Way to go, Sasuke!" exclaimed Naruto, happy to know that his efforts weren't in vain. Slowly but surely, Sasuke made his way towards the falling blonde. Just as he was next to Naruto, Sasuke wrapped his right arm the genin's waist, while his left hand was rapidly doing one-handed signs.

"Uh, Sasuke, what exactly are you planning?" asked Naruto nervously, as he watched the signs the former avenger was making.

"Everything's going to be alright, brother." said Sasuke in calm and reassuring voice. This had caught Naruto by surprise; Sasuke had never referred to him as his brother. It brought a sense of pride and happiness in Naruto, knowing that his "brother" no longer corrupted by darkness. As they were getting closer and closer to the bottom, however, Naruto began to wonder what exactly was Sasuke was doing.

"Sasuke, what are you doing? We're about become human pin cushions!" shouted Naruto.

"Just hold on, Naruto. This jutsu requires several of hand signs and has to be executed at the right moment. If I trigger too soon, or too late, the both of us will implode." said Sasuke, just as he finished his long chain of single hand signs.

"Well I just hope that you know what you're doing!" Naruto shouted over the rushing wind, as they got closer and closer to the stalagmites. Just as they were about to be skewered, Sasuke made his move.

"**Forbidden Ninja Art: Inter-Dimensional Portal Jutsu!"** A large swirling, black and purple vortex appeared out of nowhere right in front of the two. Naruto looked into the hole, he saw that it was pitch black, as if it were the middle of the night. Naruto, who wasn't expecting for something like this to happen, just clenched his eyes shut as he and Sasuke both passed right through the vortex.

**444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444 **

_Inside the void _

While Naruto was waiting for his painful death for what seemed like several minutes, he began to suspect that something was up.

'_What's going on, it usually doesn't take this long to die. I mean, we were practically inches away from having our bodies being skewered multiple times. And furthermore, why is it that I can't feel the wind rushing by me?' _thought Naruto, with his eyes still closed. Deciding to take a chance, the blonde opened his eyes, and was greeted with a sight that would be the norm in a science fiction movie. He and Sasuke were gliding through some sort of black and purple void. Everywhere he looked the was nothing but black and purple, even he and Sasuke covered in that weird colored tint.

"Where are we?" Naruto asked aloud.

"We're in the void." said Sasuke.

"The . . . void?" said Naruto, not sure that he heard correctly.

Sasuke nodded in response. "It's the space that exists between all of the different locations of our world. The jutsu that I just performed allows me to create a gateway into the void, and teleport myself to any location that I choose. But, I need to have a clear mental image of where I want to go, otherwise I'd be trapped in here for the rest of my life. Also, the jutsu requires an extremely large amount of chakra, or the ninja using this jutsu would die."

"Sasuke, that's incredible!" said Naruto excitedly, but inside he was feeling very jealous. "Tell me, did you create that jutsu yourself, or did Orochimaru teach you?"

"Orochimaru taught me." the Uchiha replied.

"Oh, should've known." said Naruto, slightly embarrassed that he had to question the obvious. "So . . . since you didn't let fall to my death, does this mean that what I think it means, or are you going to kill me here?"

"No, I'm not going to kill you, moron. It means that I'm coming back to Leaf with you and your team." Sasuke replied. "But don't even think about shouting out with glee, or I'll leave you hear to rot." he added quickly, as he predicted the blonde's reaction from his past experiences.

"Hey! I'm not the same loud-mouthed, brat that I was two-and-a-half years ago!" said an indignant Naruto. "But anyways, it's good to have the old you back, Sasuke."

"It's good to be back, old friend" replied Sasuke happily, as he made another hand sign. A second later, another portal appeared, only this time, Naruto could see the top of the cliff side at the other end of it. Additionally, Naruto felt himself get sucked towards the portal, like water flowing down a drain.

"Aw man, I have a feeling that this is going to be a rough ride!" said Naruto, as he and Sasuke were pulled towards the portal at an alarming speed.

**444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444 **

_Back with Sakura _

Sakura couldn't remember a day when she was this stressed out of her mind. She was still tied up by several large snakes, and both Naruto and Sasuke were falling towards an area full of stalagmites. On top of that, Sai was _still _unconscious from Sasuke's Chidori Current, and Yamato hadn't come back from his fight with Kabuto.

'_At this rate, I'll be lucky if I can even find their remains.' _thought the chunin, sadly. She really cared about Naruto and Sasuke, and wanted to save both of them, but knew that at the speeds that they were going, they had no chance of surviving the fall. Not even Naruto's demonic chakra, nor Sasuke's curse mark, could've saved them.

She was thinking of ways to best convey the mission's failure to her sensei, when all of a sudden, she saw a dark, black and purple hole appeared in the sky, a few feet above the raised ledge. A moment later, she heard a whooshing sound, and watched in awe as both Naruto and Sasuke plummeted out of the hole and landed on the ground with a loud thud. As the two forms tried to get up, she heard Naruto's voice first.

"Whoo! Man, Sasuke, that was one wild ride, but you need to work on the landing, thou." the blonde said, jokingly.

"Sorry about that, but it can't be helped." replied Sasuke, in a mocking tone.

Sakura was speechless, there right in front of her, was Naruto _and_ Sasuke, both alive and joking with each other, as if they were never in any danger. Sakura was overwhelmed with emotion. But then, an awful thought came to her: What if Sasuke was just going to kill Naruto right in front of her? If so, she had do something, and fast.

"Naruto!" she shouted, as she once again began her thrashing once again.

Sasuke, remembering that he had left Sakura tied up, banished the snakes that were holding her. Once free, Sakura immediately raced towards the two, channeling her chakra into her fist, determined to knock the Uchiha's head off before he got the chance to kill Naruto. Sensing the killer intent that Sakura was projecting towards him, and the amount of chakra that was in her fist, Sasuke quickly jumped away from Naruto before the angry chunin could land her mark.

"Sakura, wait, stop!" said Naruto, as he saw Sakura come charging towards them.

As Sakura stopped by where Naruto was still laying, she saw the condition that he was in, and decided that Naruto was in greater need of her help.

"Naruto, are you alright?!" asked Sakura as she helped him up into a sitting position, and then began a diagnostics jutsu to see the extent of the blonde's injuries. She was relieved that, despite the many scratches and cuts he had, Naruto wasn't in any life-threatening danger. "Don't worry, I'll make this bastard pay for what he did to you!" she added as she began to prepare another Strong Arm attack.

"Sakura, hold on a minute!" said Naruto, as he grabbed onto Sakura's hand with his right arm, as it was still the only one that he could actually move. "We don't have to fight Sasuke anymore. He's decided to finally ditch that Snake bastard, and come back to the Leaf Village."

Sakura just looked at him as if he sprouted another head. "Naruto, did you hit your head while you were falling, or something? This guy nearly beat you death, and was willing to let you die! You were right all along, the Sasuke I once knew is no more! He needs to be beaten into unconsciousness if we ever hope to bring him back home!" she snarled.

"That may have been the case a while ago, Sakura, but it isn't anymore." replied Naruto, before the kunoichi could resume her attack.

Sakura's angry quickly changed into confusion. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean," began Naruto, "is that Sasuke has . . ."

"I can take from here, Naruto." said Sasuke, abruptly, causing his two former teammates to draw their attention on him. Sakura still glared at him, but it wasn't as strong as it was a short while ago. It was if she was watching him to slip up and give her an excuse to pulverize him. And given that he was already very low on chakra, Sasuke had a feeling that she would kill him in an instant. Naruto just gave him a look that just said "tell her the truth, pal". So, with a deep breath, Sasuke began to speak from his heart.

"Sakura, Naruto," he began, solemnly, "I don't know what to say. I know that the both of you have mixed feelings about me. The damage that I've inflicted on the both of you can never be repaired. I was a cold-hearted, selfish, arrogant, prick that deserved to be executed. I sacrificed everything that I should have treasured, just so that I could have power. But that's not the person I want to be anymore. What I've done can't be forgiven, but I want to say that I'm so sorry, and ashamed that I thought that I was better off training under Orochimaru, than when I was with you guys and Kakashi Sensei. I have no right in asking you two, but please, I beg of you all, can you ever find it in your hearts to give me chance to set things right?" he finished as he got on his knees, and bowed before his two former comrades.

Even though Naruto didn't physically show it, he was dancing for joy in his mind; Sasuke had finally seen the error of his ways. It gave the genin a great sense of pride to see that he managed to do something right the first time around. As he looked at Sakura to see her reaction, he saw that her body was trembling. But it wasn't out of pent up rage, no, it was out of pure happiness, as there were tears slowly sliding down her face.

Sakura thought that she was dreaming. When she first learned of Sasuke's defection, she first thought it all part of a really bad dream, and when she woke up in the morning, everything would be back to normal. She knew that it was sort of childish to think that something as simple as that would ever happen, but it didn't hurt to have a little faith in her dreams. And now, at this very moment, it looked like her dream had just came true.

"Sasuke," she said in a very shaky voice, "please come over here." Sasuke, confused by the girl's tone, decided to comply with her request. As he got to where he was inches away from the two Leaf nins, and squatted so that he was at eye level with them, he and Naruto were immediately engulfed in a big, bone-crushing hug from Sakura. "Of course, we'll give another chance. I'm just . . . so glad that the both of you are alright." she said, as tears began to pour down her face.

Sasuke was caught by surprise by Sakura's actions, thinking that she was going to punch his head of with one punch. But all the same, he was grateful that she was willing to forgive him. Naruto was just happy that he was able to fulfill his promise to Sakura, and to see that Sasuke had finally come to his senses. It took a minute of soothing from Sasuke and Naruto to stop Sakura's crying. Once she finally calmed herself down, she broke the embrace, only for her to quickly grab the back of the boys' heads, and in a swift movement, slammed them hard against each other.

"OW! Sakura, I've already got plenty of injuries from the fight, and don't need any more!" shouted Naruto heatedly.

"What the hell was that for?!" said a very annoyed Sasuke. Both, however, were quickly silenced when they saw the look on Sakura's face. There was a large tick mark on her forehead, and her once green eyes changed to white color that Naruto knew all too well from his past.

"**DON'T YOU TWO EVER SCARE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN! I ALMOST HAD A HEART ATTACK WHEN I SAW THE BOTH OF YOU GO OVER! IF EITHER OF YOU EVEN **_**THINKS **_**ABOUT DOING SOMETHING THAT STUPID EVER AGAIN, I'LL POUND YOU SO HARD THAT NOT EVEN TSUNADE SENSEI WILL BE ABLE TO HEAL YOU, GOT THAT??" **she said, as flames appeared behind her. The two boys said nothing, but nodded quickly so as not to invoke her wrath.

"Okay then." she replied brightly, with her anger instantly vanishing. Sasuke just looked at her, amazed at how scary Sakura could be when she was angry. He wondered just exactly did Naruto last so long with her while they were still a team. Naruto said nothing, knowing that Sakura would most likely become extremely violent towards him if he said anything. So, he decided to play it safe, and not say anything whilst Sakura began to treat his injuries.

"So, doc, how bad is the damage?" asked Naruto, a goofy smile plastered on his face.

"You'll live, but it'll be a long time before you regain your full mobility again." she replied. "Sasuke's last current severely damaged several nerve endings on your muscles, and nerves are very complicated to repair."

"Hold on, there's an easier way to get Naruto back up on his feet than using medical ninjutsu." said Sasuke suddenly.

This got both Sakura and Naruto's attention. "What are you talking about, Sasuke?" said Sakura.

"Well, instead of using chakra for the Mystical Palms Jutsu, I can just use some lightning chakra. You see, when the Chidori Current makes contact with another living organism, it doesn't destroy or damage the nerve endings on the muscles, it disrupts the nerve's pathway, preventing the brain's signals from reaching the muscles. All it takes is another electric shock to unblock the pathways, and allow Naruto to move on his own again." said Sasuke. Naruto and Sakura just looked at him. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked.

"This seems just too good to be true. How do you know that there aren't any side effects that could cause Naruto's condition to worsen, or even kill him?" asked Sakura.

"But we don't have time to play it safe, Sakura." said Naruto. "Orochimaru could appear and attack us at any moment. And with me paralyzed, and Sai still unconscious, that snake would kill you two in an instant. Just let Sasuke do his thing. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"But Naruto . . ."

"I said I'll be fine, Sakura. I trust Sasuke, and I have the fox's chakra in case anything goes wrong." reassured Naruto. Sakura still wasn't convinced that Sasuke's way of helping Naruto was a good idea, but she knew that they didn't have the luxury of using proper medical techniques, especially with the risk of a sneak attack from Orochimaru. If the snake nin were to appear, they would need all the help they could get in order to take him down.

Sakura looked down at Naruto, who had a look in eyes that told her that he was willing to take the risk. Lately, whenever she looked into those blue eyes, Sakura always felt like her strength was increased ten-fold, even when the odds. Then she looked at Sasuke, looking very serious.

"Alright, I guess we have no other choice. But, if anything goes wrong, it'll be your head, Sasuke." she said, warningly.

Sasuke merely nodded, and began to concentrate his lightning based chakra to his right index finger, but found that task to suddenly be extremely difficult. He tried his hardest to create a medium-sized spark, which resulted in two small sparks to fly off.

'_Oh, come on!' _he thought, exasperatedly. _'Don't tell me that I don't have enough chakra just to make a measly little spark. I didn't realize that the Inter-Dimensional Portal took so much chakra out of me, but I have to do this.' _With one final grueling effort, Sasuke willed his chakra to his finger tip, and gave a slight tap on Naruto's chest.

As soon as the electricity made contact with Naruto's body, he suddenly felt a strong tingling sensation all throughout his body. It felt as if electricity was surging from him. This strange feeling lasted for a minute before it faded away. Suddenly, Naruto felt an itch on the left side of his head, and reached out to scratch it, and realized that he just moved his left arm. The blonde then jumped to his feet, surprising Sakura at the same time.

"Ha ha! I feel as good as new! Sasuke, you're a genius!" shouted Naruto with glee, as he punched the air at rapid speeds. When he didn't hear any reply from the Uchiha, he turned to see if he was okay, just catch sight of Sasuke beginning to keel over.

"Sasuke!" screamed both of the Leaf nin as Naruto caught the raven-haired teen just before he hit the ground. Naruto decided that it would be best to move to the lower ground, just to be on the safe side. As soon as he, Sasuke, and Sakura were back on the clearing, Sakura was immediately by Sasuke's side, running yet another diagnostics jutsu to see what caused him to nearly collapse. Both of the Leaf shinobi had worried looks on their faces.

"Stop . . . overreacting . . . you guys. I'm . . . alright." said Sasuke in between pants.

"Shut up, Sasuke, you need to conserve your energy, especially when you have extreme chakra exhaustion. Just what were you thinking? You know what happens when you use up all chakra, don't you?" said Sakura, as if she was talking to an academy student. Naruto found this quite amusing, as it seemed that for a brief moment, Sasuke knew what it was like to have Sakura treat you like a fool.

"Oh, but extreme chakra depletion is the last thing that you three should worry about." said a sinister voice that sounded from behind the group. Reacting to the new voice, they turned around to see who it was, only to be met with the sight a very angry Orochimaru, who was holding the slumped form of . . .

"Captain Yamato!" shouted both Sakura and Naruto, as Orochimaru tossed said ninja towards the trio as if he was a doll. As the ANBU captain slid towards them, they saw several slashes and deep cuts that were all over his body. Most of his armor was completely destroyed and torn away, his right arm was now broken in five different places, and his left arm sported a very deep gash. His Leaf helmet was no longer on his head, as it was destroyed during the battle. Luckily, he was still breathing on his own.

"Next time, make sure that your team leader is someone that can last at least _twenty _minutes against me." said the snake nin with a condescending smirk on his face, although he knew that there will never be a next time for these two Leaf nin. The pale missing nin then focused his attention to Sasuke with a disappointed look. "I'm surprised and disappointed with you, Sasuke. After all that I've taught you, after I gave you power that no one in Leaf could give you, and this is how you repay me, by deserting me for those _weaklings?! _Tell me, boy, what prompted you to such an action?"

Sasuke just glared at pasty-faced bastard that was before him. The sheer fact that the snake man believed that he owned him only mad Sasuke's anger for the traitor grow, but not angry enough for the curse mark to activate again. That was the last thing that he wanted to happen.

"It's simple, they showed what kind of monster that I was becoming under your tutelage. You've filled me up with so much arrogance and condescension that I actually believed that I was god amongst humanity. In reality, I was nothing more but an idiotic fool that spent the majority of his time with his head up his ass. Well not anymore! I'm through with obeying your commands, and I know all about your secret plans of using my body as your vessel. I'm going back to the Leaf Village to pay for my crimes and to become reinstated as Leaf nin, and there's nothing that you can do or say to stop me!!" bellowed Sasuke.

Orochimaru's sneer turned into an enraged glare. "You have no idea how wrong you are, little boy." he said in a voice that sent chills down the three teens' spines. Suddenly, without any warning, a strong shockwave sent all three of teenagers flying backwards, along a lot of dust and debris. When the shockwave ceased, and the dust settled, Naruto turned to see if his friends were hurt, and saw that Sakura was a few inches away from him, but was having a hard time getting back on her feet. But Sasuke wasn't there with her. Naruto then turned around to see if Sasuke was in front of him, but was met with a sight that made his blood run cold: there in front of him stood Orochimaru, holding a weakened Sasuke underneath his arm and a large inter-dimensional portal behind him.

"So you've decided to try and leave me for your old life, and on the week that I would need you the most? How very foolish of you. I thought that you knew already, once you accepted my offer to personally train you, you gave up your free will entirely, and became a ninja under _my _command!" snarled Orochimaru, as he looked down at Sasuke. "I was originally going to let you live for another week before I took possession of your body, but, given the recent turn of events, I think that it would be best to perform the Immortality Jutsu as soon as possible."

He then turned to where Naruto and Sakura were. "I suggest that you two say your goodbyes to little Sasuke now, because this will be the last time that the both of you every see him again." he said smugly, as he turned to walk through the portal.

To say Naruto was pissed off was an understatement, he was infuriated. He had almost died trying to convince Sasuke to change his ways, and now this bastard was going to screw everything up. Naruto knew that he had to do stop him, but he found himself still too stunned from the shockwave. As he watched Orochimaru walk closer towards the portal, his anger towards the snake increased with every step that he took. Thanks to that bastard, Naruto's recently fulfilled promise was now broken, Sasuke was going to be used as a vessel, and Naruto's attempt to rescue his old friend had become yet another failure.

'_No!! Not again! Why does this always happen to me?! Every time things are starting to go well for me, something just happens to come along and screw me over! Damn you, Orochimaru, you friggin', back-stabbing asshole! You're not going to get away with Sasuke, not this time! I'll rip you to shreds before I let that happen!' _he thought angrily, as he began to call upon the fox's chakra. Right now, he didn't care what happened to him, all he wanted was to save Sasuke and to utterly destroy that snake-loving son of a bitch. As the demonic chakra around Naruto began to take the form of a one tailed fox, his bloodlust and feral instincts began to increase, as he began to see red.

Sakura watched in horror as Orochimaru made his way to the portal, with Sasuke underneath his arm. As she turned slightly to her right, she gasped in terror as she watched Naruto begin to transform, she saw how much his tailed forms changed him as a person, and began to worry. Now that Yamato was out of commission, there was no way of stopping her friend when he reached his four-tailed form.

Naruto crouched down low on all fours, like a cat stalking a bird, or in this case, a fox stalking a snake. Then, channeling his chakra into his arms and legs, Naruto pushed off the ground, launching himself towards Orochimaru and the portal at light speed.

Orochimaru was lost in his thoughts as he walked towards the portal. He knew that Sasuke was losing interest in his teachings, and that it was only a matter of time before the Uchiha tried to kill him, but the snake never expected that the boy would actually have the nerve to leave him on his own free will. But it didn't really matter to him anymore, in a matter of seconds the Uchiha's body and sharingan were merely seconds away from being his.

Orochimaru was just one step away from entering the portal, when he felt Sasuke stir a bit. He looked down at the boy, and he saw that Sasuke was slowly coming back to his senses. "You might as well give up, Sasuke," the snake hissed, "because there's no chance of you escaping from . . ."

Orochimaru was interrupted once he sensed a large chakra signature approaching him from behind very quickly. Just as he turned around he was meet with the sight of a one-tailed Naruto with his right fist cocked back. Before the legendary nin could react, he was struck with a hard , red chakra enhanced punch to his face. The sneak attack caused to snake to lose his balance, which gave Sasuke the chance to wrench himself out of Orochimaru's grip and jump away from the portal. Unfortunately for Naruto, his momentum was too fast for him to change directions, and ended up colliding into Orochimaru, and pushing themselves through the portal, which closed soon after the two entered it.

"Naruto!!" screamed the remaining members of the original Squad 7, horror-struck at what they had just seen. Naruto Uzumaki had disappeared without a trace, and the two had no idea to where he was going.

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_Inside the void _

"**YOU . . . LITTLE . . . BASTARD!" **was all that Orochimaru could choke out as Naruto's death grip on his neck only intensified as they zoomed down through the void. This wasn't what Orochimaru had planned. All he had to do was warp to his first original headquarters, knock Sasuke out, and then take possession of his body, but now all of the time that he spent training his future vessel was all for naught, and it was all thanks to this damn jinchuriki.

Naruto knew that he was in a lot of trouble, if this second trip through the void was any indication. Unlike his first experience, he and the snake were rocketing towards their destination at extremely fast speeds; it was taking every once of his strength to hold on to Orochimaru's neck. Furthermore, there was no blackish purple colored tint, but a flashing red colored background everywhere that he looked.

"Alright, you son of a bitch, where the hell are we going?!" snarled Naruto, as he tightened his grip the snake's neck.

Orochimaru just smirked. "Why should I tell you, when you're going find out yourself, right about . . . now!"

Suddenly, another portal appeared in front of two, and Naruto felt himself accelerating to an even greater speed. As the two nins traveled through the portal, they found themselves in the middle of a dark sky, indicating that it was night time, above a strange coliseum that Naruto didn't recognize. Naruto was brought out his thoughts as he felt himself start to hurtle through the sky, as if something was moving them to some mysterious location. This sudden change in action, as well as his increasing chakra exhaustion, caused the blonde to lose his grip, an opportunity in which Orochimaru took advantage of; he grabbed hold of the jinchuriki's jacket, and then sent him flying towards the ground with a hard kick.

As Naruto began his plummet to the ground at breakneck speed, he watched angrily as Orochimaru continued fly towards his unknown destination, like a comet in the night. But he had no time to waste being furious at how the snake got away, as he had his own problems to deal with. Naruto knew had do something to break his fall, but was already starting to black out from his extended use of the fox's chakra. With what energy he had, Naruto positioned himself so that he was falling back first, horizontal to the ground, so as to slow himself down. Then he gathered his remaining red chakra, and manipulated it in front of him to form a small shield, and braced himself for impact.

**BBBBOOOOOOMMMMMM! **

His entire body was racked with pain from the impact. Despite the agony he was in, Naruto opened his eyes to see where he landed. When his sight returned to him, he saw that his crash had made a crater seven feet deep, and eight feet wide, into the coliseum's battle area, which was made out of a very hard metallic material. Just as his vision began to get blurry, Naruto heard many screams and voices that he didn't recognize, shouting out, and giving commands. The last thing that he saw before unconsciousness took him was a figure, with gleaming gold eyes, dressed in gold and white jumping down into the crater and running towards him.

_To Be Continued . . ._

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**Whew! I just want to start off by saying sorry that this chapter was so long, but a lot of things happened in just one chapter: Sasuke is now free from Orochimaru's influence, and Naruto is finally in the world of the _Bionicle. _Review or any reasonable suggestions are appreciated, so please R&R. ****Peace Out!! **

**Jutsus/Techniques(in the order they appeared): **

**Forbidden Ninja Art: Inter-Dimensional Portal Jutsu**- Created by Orochimaru, and then taught to Sasuke, this jutsu allows the caster to teleport to any location they desire via creating portals that go to and from the inside of the void. However, in order to successfully perform the jutsu, the ninja must have a clear mental image of where they want to teleport to, and the necessary amount of chakra, or they could be trapped inside the void for all time, or die. As of right now, Sasuke can only use the jutsu in its short-ranged version, where as Orochimaru has mastered it to the extent where he can travel to several different countries, or even completely different worlds.

**Strong Arm **

**Wind Style: Great Breakthrough **


	5. A New World

**_The Forgotten Prophecy_ **

_**Hello again! Here's another update. I own nothing! **_

'_Blah'_- inner thoughts

"Blah"** -** talking

'_**Blah' **_- demon/monster speaking

"**Blah" -** jutsu being performed

"**BLAH"** - really angry yelling

**#**- scene change

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**Chapter 5: A New World **

_The ninja world _

"Naruto, no!!" screamed Sakura, as she raced to the place where the inter-dimensional portal once stood. "Wwwhha . . . what happened to him? Where did he go?!" She then turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, where's Naruto?! Where was Orochimaru originally planning on taking you?!"

Sasuke just looked down at his feet. "I . . . I don't know, Sakura." he said, quietly.

"What do you mean 'you don't know'!!??" shrieked the chunin, who was starting to get somewhat hysterical. "You've been Orochimaru's apprentice! Surely, he must have told you _something _about . . ."

"Well, he _didn't_, okay?!" interrupted Sasuke, already feeling ashamed at his past apprenticeship with the snake traitor. "Even though that bastard has been training me for the past few years, it doesn't mean that he taught me everything that he knew. There were a few things that he never explained to me.

"And besides, even if I _did _have the slightest clue to as where he was going, there's nothing that I can do. I've only have enough chakra to use the Inter-Dimensional Portal Jutsu to the point where I can teleport to short distances. After that, my chakra reserves are reduced to a level so low where that I can't even us the simplest of jutsus. With the amount of chakra that Orochimaru was pumping into the portal, he and Naruto could be half way around the world, or in an entirely different world for all we know!

Sakura was at lost with words. In only a matter of seconds, Naruto had disappeared off of the face of the Earth, trying to save his best friend. Now she was never going to get a chance to set things right between her and the blonde. The irony of the entire situation was too much for her; she had gotten one wayward teammate (and former crush) back, but at the cost of another one. She looked down at the ground so that Sasuke wouldn't see her face, and struggled hard to keep her sorrow and guilt from surfacing. But, despite her efforts, she felt the first few tears start to stream down her cheeks.

Sasuke saw this, and mentally berated himself for causing Sakura to break down like that. They were in a huge predicament, and him yelling at her wasn't going to get Naruto back. Even though he used to be annoyed with the girl's antics in the past, it always hurt him to see her cry, to see her in pain. Sasuke walked up to where Sakura stood, who still wasn't looking at him, and hugged the crying girl. The sudden embrace from the Uchiha startled Sakura, but she returned it, gratefully, and began to sob on his shoulder as Sasuke comforted her. He waited until she cried herself dry before he spoke again.

"I sorry for yelling." he said. "I didn't mean to upset you, I was just angry at myself for allowing all this to go so far, and I sort of over-exaggerated a few things."

"But . . . but you just said that he could be anywhere." she said.

"I know, I know, but that doesn't mean that he's automatically gone for good. He's somewhere out there in this world, still alive. I'll find him again, Sakura, I promise. Even if it takes me the rest of my life, I'll find him, and bring him back home." said Sasuke, with strong resolve and determination in his voice.

That last comment confused Sakura greatly, it didn't sound like the Sasuke she knew. As she broke the embrace, she faced the Uchiha, looking directly in the eyes. "Do you really mean that, Sasuke?" she asked. "Are really willing to postpone your vengeance on Itachi, and spend the rest of your life looking for Naruto, or are you just saying that so I'll vouch for you when you try to become a Leaf nin again?"

Sasuke just looked at Sakura, with a serious expression on his face. "I mean every word that I've said, Sakura. I will find Naruto, even if I die in the process." he said, his expression not faltering once. As Sakura looked into the boy's eyes, looking for any telltale signs that he was lying, she saw that there were none to be found.

'_So he is telling the truth.' _thought Sakura. A smirk appeared on her lips, confusing Sasuke to what was going in the girl's mind. "Well, don't expect to do this on your own, because I'm coming with you, and we'll _both _find Naruto, together." she said with equal determination.

Sasuke just looked at her; the girl continued to surprise him. It was clear that she was no longer the annoying, weak, fan girl that she used to be when they were still genin. No, the young woman that was standing before him was proud, courageous, full-fledged shinobi, that was willing to do anything to protect her comrades. As he continued to gaze upon Sakura, he suddenly began to see for the first time how beautiful Sakura was, with her lean figure, emerald green eyes, short pink hair, and smooth silky skin.

'_What am I doing?' _thought Sasuke, as he shook those thoughts out of his head. '_My friend just got teleported to some unknown location. This isn't the right time to be checking out Sakura.' _

"Sasuke?" was what brought the Uchiha out of his contemplations. "Sasuke, are you alright?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm alright." replied Sasuke.

"Well then stop standing there and help me with the rest of my team. Yamato's injuries aren't life threatening, but I'm going to need all the help I can getin helping him back to Leaf. So, could you please go wake Sai up, it's going to be a long trip back home."

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_The Great Coliseum, Metru Nui _

It was a calm, and cool night all throughout Metru Nui, the City of Legends. The sky was clear, and stars were gleaming brightly. Everything seemed so peaceful and quiet, like nothing could go wrong. In fact, that was how it was like for the past several days. Matoran were now resuming the reconstruction project, and the Toa were using this time of harmony to rest and recover. After what these mighty guardians had went through they needed it, especially Takanuva, Toa of Light.

Takanuva was presently standing in the Coliseum's arena ,which was a temporary sleeping area for the Matoran that were working to restore the building. As the Matoran slept peacefully, the Toa gazed up at the star-filled sky, replaying all of the trials and events that he and his "brothers and sisters" had to endure. It all started when the Toa Nuva were told by Turaga Dume that the Great Spirit, Mata Nui, was in danger of dying, and that only through the use of Kanohi Ignika, the Mask of Life, could they save him. Like any dutiful Toa, the Toa Nuva set off to the island of Voya Nui in search of this legendary mask of power. This task, however, proved to be a difficult one, as the Toa Nuva were captured by the Piraka, a group of rogue Dark Hunters pretending to be Toa, during their quest. Upon hearing of their fate he, Jaller, Hahli, Kongu, Hewkii, Nuparu, and Matoro snuck out of the city in order to save the six Toa. But only the six Matoran managed to reach the island, as Takanuva was separated from the group when they approached a strange barrier that didn't allow light through it during their travels. Try as he might, the Toa of Light couldn't get past it, and was forced to go back to Metru Nui. Unfortunately where he had to battle a few Rahi beasts known as "Frostelus" along the way.

The remaining six members of the rescue team managed to reach Voya Nui, but not as Matoran, but as the Toa Inika. With their new found elemental powers Kanohi masks, given to them by the strange Red Star, along with the help of the residential Matoran Resistance from the island, the Inika were able to rescue the Nuva, free the enslaved Matoran, and drive off the Piraka. Unfortunately, before the could collect the Ignika, the Kanohi escaped into the into the watery depths of the sea.

This change in action didn't deter the Inika's will to accomplish their mission. The Nuva, seeing that it was the Inika's destiny to save Mata Nui, decided to travel back to Metru Nui, so that they could help with its rebuilding. The Inika embarked on their journey down the Stone Cord, a hollow tunnel that lead down to the bottom of the sea. Once the new team of Toa had finally reached their destination, they discovered that their bodies, armor, masks, tools, and powers had changed once again. Additionally, they realized that they were able to breathe underwater, which caused them to rename themselves as the Toa Mahri.

While the Mahri searched for the elusive mask of power, they were faced with the challenges of fighting the Barraki warlords, saving Mata Nui's life, and saving the Matoran from their watery homes. But to do this, they had to destroy the Stone Cord, which would have caused all of Voya Nui to sink. After successfully finding the Ignika the six heroes, and their new ally Axonn, herded the Matoran of both Mahri Nui and Voya Nui into the Nui Caves, where Axonn evacuated them to the Southern Continent. As they were about to destroy The Cord, the Mahri were attacked by the Barraki, in a last-ditch attempt of stealing the Mask of Life back from the Toa. Between the many explosions in their skirmish, the Stone Cord was destroyed, causing Voya Nui to sink down to Karda Nui, the Universe Core.

Additionally, Matoro, who was in charge of protecting the mask, began to sense the Great Spirit's life began to fade. Knowing that he had do something, he followed the sinking island, and made it to the center of their world through a small opening, just before the island came crashing down over it. As he watched the mask gold color dim even more, he realized that in order to use the mask to save Mata Nui, he had to sacrifice his own life in order make the mask work. So without a second thought, the Toa of Ice donned the legendary mask, and allowed it to transform his body into pure energy. But as his last moments as a Toa, Matoro was able to teleport his teammates back to Metru Nui, and transform them back into their Inika forms.

Puzzled to why they were back on Metru Nui, and to why Matoro wasn't with them, the Inikas traveled back to the legendary city, where they meet the seven Turaga, Takanuva, the Toa Nuva, and all of the Matoran there. All of them were looking very downtrodden and depressed. When Jaller asked what was wrong, they were shocked to find out that Matoro had sacrificed himself to save the Great Spirit's life.

Takanuva just could not believe that one of his friends had died in the line of duty. He had known the Ko-Matoran ever since he saved him from freezing to death, while was still Takua the Chronicler, back on the island of Mata Nui. Even though the Ko-Matoran weren't the most sociable of all the Matoran, but to the Toa of Light, Matoro was the most friendliest in all of Ko-Koro. Now that he was gone, he felt sad for his friend's fate, and guilty for not being able to fight along Jaller and his team.

'_Matoro,' _thought Takanuva, sadly, _'I heard_ _from the others that despite the trials you faced, you believed that you could never be a true Toa. But, in the end, you became the greatest hero to ever be known. I know that if you had to die, that you would've wanted to go down protecting your homeland and your friends. Yet, I still wish that I could've been able to at least say goodbye.' _

"See, I told you that he would be here." came a familiar voice from behind him. Takanuva looked back to see Jaller and Hahli walking towards him. The Toa of Light still couldn't believe that the remaining five Matoran that had ventured to Voya Nui were now Toa.

"Jaller, Hahli, what's up? Is there anything wrong?" asked the gold-and-white clad Toa.

"No, everything's alright. We just came to tell you that night time guard duties are about to start." answered Hahli.

"That time, again, huh? Well, okay, you guys gone on ahead, I'll be at the meeting point in a minute." he replied. And with that, Takanuva turned his attention back on the stars. Hahli and Jaller just looked at each other, as if they had expected Takanuva's reaction to be like this. Every since Matoro's fate had been revealed to everyone, morale amongst the Toa wasn't as strong as it used to be. Takanuva was the second one to take this bit of news the hardest, the first one being Kopaka.

"Takanuva, I know that you feel terrible about what happened to Matoro, but you can't stay depressed forever." said Jaller.

"I know, I know." replied the Light Toa, in a grim tone. "But, I still feel that all of this could've ended differently if I could've just gotten through that blasted barrier in the first place."

"You don't know that for sure, Takanuva." said Hahli. "Besides, even if you did manage to come with us, it was Matoro's destiny to use the mask to save everyone. And you Ko-Matoran, they always believe that destiny is the most important of the three virtues."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Hahli." said Takanuva, feeling a little but better. The other two Toa then copied their friend and looked up at star-filled sky.

"The stars look beautiful, tonight." said Jaller.

"Yeah, they do." agreed Takanuva. Suddenly, there was a loud bang, followed by a bright flash of light appearing in the sky, causing the three warriors to shield their eyes. When the flash died down, a large shooting star was flying through the sky.

"Mata Nui! What just happened?" asked the bewildered Toa Inika of Fire.

"I don't know, but look at that star!" shouted Takanuva.

A second later after its appearance, the star separated into two different ones: one was still white, and the second one was red. As the white star continued its original path, the red one changed course, and was now heading straight towards them. Jaller and Hahli jumped to the left, while Takanuva jumped to the right, just in time before the star crashed on the Coliseum's shifting floor, creating a large cloud of dust and a massive wave made out of the floor's hexagons as a result of the impact. The crash woke all of the Matoran from their slumber and put them in a huge panic. Screams of terror and shouts of confusion soon filled the Coliseum as some Matoran rushed to get out if the building, and some went to get their tools to investigate what had crashed into the Coliseum.

As the dust settled, and the floor stopped moving, Takanuva, Jaller, and Hahli looked at where the strange object crashed, only to see that there was now a large crater in the floor, seven feet deep and eight feet wide. Takanuva went closer to it to get a better look.

"What do you think you're doing?" shouted Jaller.

"I just want to see what made the crater, that's all." replied Takanuva, calmly.

"But you don't what that thing could be! It could be a Makuta for all we know!"

"If that's the case, then how come it hasn't attacked us yet?" And with that, Takanuva continued walking towards the edge of the crater.

"Takanuva, wait!" said Jaller. "Don't go over . . ." but Takanuva continued on as if he never heard him. "Argh! That Kohli-Head! Come on Hahli, lets make sure he doesn't get himself into trouble." the red Toa said, as he and Hahli followed after their comrade.

As Takanuva got to the edge of the crater, he saw something was in the center. The thing in the center of the crater looked almost like a Toa, only at had a lot of weird gold-colored strands on top of it's head, and the only type of armor that was visible on it was a metal plate with a spiraling leaf symbol on it. The plate was attached to a cloth band that was tied around it's head. The being was also wearing some strange black and orange garments, and black footwear.

'_What is that thing? I don't think that I've every seen anything like it.' _thought Takanuva, who was starting to feel some sort of concern about the new creature's well-being. _'Well, whatever it is, it can't be alright, if that crash was any indication.' _

Just as Jaller and Hahli reached to where Takanuva was standing, Takanuva jumped down into the crater and made his way to the fallen creature.

"Takanuva, are you insane?!" exclaimed Jaller.

"Hold your rahi, Jaller, I'm just checking to see if it's alright or not, sheeesh." replied Takanuva, as he made his way to the unmoving figure. Once he was standing over it, he saw that it had two eyes, a nose, a mouth, and three strange lines on each of side of its face, but it wasn't wearing any sort of mask. Additionally, its face, hands, and feet were covered in some sort of peach-colored material that was soft to the Toa's touch.

The creature suddenly groaned, causing Takanuva to flinch back a little. The being then turned it's head towards him, and tried to open its eyes. It only managed to open its eyelids a little bit, but wide enough for the Toa could see its dark blue eyes, before they closed once again. Fearing that it had just died, Takanuva crouched to where the being's head was, and placed his hand underneath it's nose. When he felt its breath against his hand, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Takanuva," called Hahli, "what is it? Is it okay?"

"I don't know what it is." he said after a short pause. "It's still breathing, but I don't know the full extent of its injuries. I think it's best if it received medical attention as soon as possible. Hahli, you and Jaller go alert the other Toa and Turaga about this, and bring them to the entrance of the Coliseum. I'll get this thing out of this crater."

"Right." said Jaller, as he and Hahli darted off to find the Turaga and their fellow Toa.

Takanuva then turned his attention to figure that was laying in front of him.

'_So, how am I going to do this? I can't just pick it up, I might make its injuries even worse. Wait, I know!'_ Without saying anything, Takanuva withdrew his Staff of Light, and began to focus his light energy to the tip of the hooked blade. Then, aiming it at the creature, he fired a beam of light at it, and manipulated it around its body, encasing it entirely. Then, still focusing on the connection between him and the life form, he gently raised his staff, lifting the creature off of the ground, and began to make his way towards where he had jumped down into the crater.

As he climbed back up on the undamaged arena floor, he saw that large group of Matoran, with loaded Kanoka disk launchers and determined looks on their faces, had gathered around the crater, as if they were expecting an attack. They expressions quickly changed from seriousness to looks of utter confusion.

"Toa Takanuva, what . . . what is _that _thing?" asked a Ga-Matoran, as she pointed to the body that was surrounded with light, and floating in mid-air.

"I don't know, Vhisola," said Takanuva with a sigh, "but I have a feeling that we're all going to find out soon enough." He then made his way to the Coliseum's exit, with the group of Matoran following him.

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_Outside the Coliseum _

The gathered Toa and Turaga were all curious to as why Jaller and Hahli had told them to stay outside the coliseum. They had heard a loud crash that came from inside the building, and saw some Matoran fleeing from the building. They had tried to go inside to investigate, but Hahli and Jaller had met them at the entrance and told them to stay put. When they asked why, the two Toa just replied that they would explain once they had gotten there. Now that they were standing in front the Coliseum, all having the same question going through their minds: what was going on?

Meanwhile, Jaller and Hahli were silently debating how to best describe the situation. They knew that both the Toa and Turaga wanted answers from them, but didn't want accidentally causing everyone to panic and attack the mysterious being. That brought another uncertainty; the two Toa had no idea if the strange creature was a threat to the Matoran, or just an innocent entity that got lost on its way home. Their musings were cut short, as Turaga Dume was the first to speak up.

"Jaller, Hahli, what is the meaning of this?! Why are preventing us from getting inside the Coliseum? And what about the Matoran, are they safe?" asked Dume in a tone that said that he meant business, and that there was no room for any argument.

"Well, Turaga Dume, the Matoran are fine." said Hahli. "They weren't harmed when the creature crash-landed."

"Creature?! What creature?!" exclaimed Turaga Whenua. Hahli mentally slapped herself for her slip-up.

"What are you two talking about?!" asked Gali.

"And what is this creature you're talking about? Is it dangerous or not?" asked Tahu, who was getting more and more tense by each passing second.

"I think that Takanuva can provide all of us with the answer to that question, Tahu." replied Onua, as he pointed towards entrance. As the remaining Toa and Turaga turned to where the Toa Nuva of Earth was pointing, they saw the approaching form of Takanuva, who was dragging something encased with light energy, floating in mid-air. Behind him, was a group of curious Matoran that came from within the Coliseum.

Once Takanuva reached the group and gently lowered the still being to the ground, he broke off the light connection and stepped back so that everyone could get a good look at the creature. At the sight of the strange thing, the Toa and Turaga immediately began talking and whispering amongst themselves.

"What is that thing?"

"What's it doing here?"

"Is this some sort of spirit-blessed sign from Mata Nui, himself?"

"What should we do with it?"

"Is it hurt? I mean, it can't be if crash landed on the Coliseum's arena."

"SILENCE!" shouted Dume, which immediately brought all talking to a halt. The Turaga then made his way to the "thing" that was laying before him. He looked over it, from its feet to it's head. Then, his eyes locked onto the headband, and the symbol that was in the center of it. Dume stared at the headband for a long time, trying to remember where he had seen that symbol before, when his eyes widened in sudden realization.

"Gali, Hahli, Kopaka, Kongu, Lewa, all of you along with Nokama, Matau, Whenua, Nuju and Onewa see to this being's health. Treat him for any injuries that he might have. Tahu, Jaller, Onua, Nuparu, Pohatu, and Hewkii, search the entire area and see if there's anymore of these things around."

"Yes, Turaga Dume." was their reply as the assembled group split up to do their separate tasks. Then the Turaga of Metru Nui turned to the remaining Toa and Turagas.

"Turaga Vakama, Toa Takanuva, follow me to my study area. There's something that I need to show you." he said, and then made his way into the Coliseum.

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_Turaga Dume's private study _

"Turaga Dume, with all do respect, why are we here?" asked Takanuva. On their way to the top of the Coliseum by elevator, where Dume's private study was, the Turaga of Metru Nui had demanded the Toa to tell him everything that had happened prior to the strange being's crash-landing. Takanuva complied, telling the Turagas everything from the loud explosion, to the shooting star that separated into two different ones. Strangely enough, after he was done Dume remained silent throughout the rest of the trip.

"Yes, I was wondering the same thing, Turaga Dume. Shouldn't we focus on seeing to the creature's condition, or at least help search the building?" asked Vakama, who was just as puzzled with Dume's behavior as Takanuva.

"No, no, this is far more important." replied Dume, as he walked to the room's back wall. As he made it so that he was inches away from it, a small screen, metal plate, eye scanner, and a keyboard flipped out of the wall. This surprised the other two occupants. But as they tried to get a closer look, Dume held out a hand in a way that said 'stop'.

"Please, don't come any closer. This security system is very sensitive, and will disable anything that moves, except for those that are registered to open the safe." replied the senior Turaga. Vakama and Takanuva stopped in their tracks, so as to avoid being affected by the security system; they didn't know how powerful it was, but they decided not to take any chances.

Dume then proceeded to type in six unknown digits on the keyboard, which caused a small beep to sound. Next, he closed his left eye, and then placed his head so that the scanner could analyze his right eye, which earned two short beeps. Finally, he placed his right hand into the metal pad, and allowed a vertical line of light to travel across the board, scanning his hand at the same time, which earned three beeps and the equipment to fold back into the wall.

Suddenly, a small rumbling noise was heard. As Dume took a step back from where he was standing, a square pedestal, that had a medium sized box on top of it, rose up from the floor. Once the pedestal stopped moving, Dume removed the box and then made his way back to his desk, as the pedestal moved back down into the floor. Vakama and Takanuva merely followed Dume back to his desk, and stopped on the other side of it.

"Dume, what _is_ that?" asked Vakama.

Dume just sighed. "I was hoping that I would never be the one that reveals this secret. But, given what has transpired tonight, I fear that hard trials are once again approaching, and that it's best that we are prepared for what ever we might have to face." he said.

"As to your question, Vakama, this box contains a secret that has be guarded by the Toa and Turaga for centuries, as it contains vital information that was never supposed to be revealed unless of an emergency."

"What are you talking about, Turaga? What makes this secret so special?" asked Takanuva.

"What I'm talking about, Takanuva," said Dume, "is the secret of the Matoran's true origins, and their long lost alliance between them and the shinobi."

_To Be Continued . . . _

**555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555 **

**So there you have it, another chapter posted. Please feel free to leave a review. If there's any confusion, **_**biosector01 .com .wikia **_**is a good website to use. See ya! **

**Matoran-English Translations **

**1) Mata Nui: same as Oh my God! (or Omigod!) **

****

**2) Kohli-Head: same as being called a knuckle-head in English **

**3) Rahi: animal **

**4) Spirit-blessed: something blessed by the Great Spirit, Mata-Nui **


	6. Explanations

**The Forgotten Prophecy **

**Hello again! One thing that I forgot to mention in the last chapter is that in this story, the Turaga, Matoran, Toa Nuva and Takanuva appear as they did in **_**Bionicle: Mask of Light, The Movie**_**. If you haven't seen this movie before, then you're missing out. So, here's another update. I own nothing! **

'_Blah'_- inner thoughts

"Blah"** -** talking

'_**Blah' **_- demon/monster speaking

"**Blah" -** jutsu being performed

"**BLAH"** - really angry yelling

**# **- scene change

**666666 **

**Chapter 6: Explanations **

_With the Matoran, Toa and Turaga, outside the Coliseum_

"So, brother of Frost, how is the creature's well-being?" asked Lewa, his curiosity evident in his voice.

"Lewa, I've already told you ten times already, I'll let you know once I've finished the diagnostics." said Kopaka, who was currently using his Kanohi Akaku Nuva (Mask of X-ray Vision. **(1)**) to take a better look at the prone being that was in the center of the gathered Toa and Turaga. While this was going on, Gali had the creature's head resting on her lap, and was using her natural healing abilities to see if its head and mind had suffered any damage from the crash. The Matoran had gathered around the Toa and Turaga, all of them (especially the Ga-Matoran and Onu-Matoran**(2)**) wanted to get a good look at the "visitor" and were curious to know where exactly did it come from.

In all of his time as a Toa, Kopaka believed that he had seen it all, and that nothing could ever surprise him again. He, however, never thought he'd be proven wrong so quickly. The creature's insides were even stranger than its outside. As the Toa of Ice searched inside Naruto's body for any sign of damage, he was dumbfounded at what he saw, especially with the weird pulsing organ that was in the middle of the being's chest cavity.

"Well, as far I can tell, it hasn't sustained any internal damage from the impact, or at least any damage that I know of. It's hard to tell since its internal systems are completely different than, and yet similar to, the internal structures in our own bodies."

This got a bunch of confused looks from the assembled party. Lewa, known for always speaking his mind, spoke for the entire group.

"Are you sure that you didn't trip and crack-break**(3)** that mask of yours, Kopaka? `Cause you aren't making any sense at all."

Kopaka just sighed. "If you don't believe me, Lewa, then why don't you use your Kanohi Nuva mask**(4)** and see for yourself. You know that the Nuva masks can use another Nuva's mask power as long as the owner is within close proximity of you."

Acting on the advice, Lewa activated his Kanohi Nuva's special ability to use Kopaka's x-ray vision power. However, unlike Kopaka, Lewa tended to be more vocal with his observations.

"Mata Nui!!! What in blazes is that...that pulsating...thing in the middle of its chest? And what's is with all of those other tubes and sacs inside of its body?!" exclaimed the green Toa as he flinched at what he saw, all the while causing everyone around him to focus their attention on the prone body and mutter anxiously to one another.

Kopaka sighed once again, this time at Lewa's antics. _'I guess there are some things that never change, no matter how many life-threatening situations you experience.'_ deduced the white Toa. He then faced Lewa and the rest of the group.

"That was what I was referring to when I said that this being's body is different, and yet somewhat similar to ours. As to your questions about its internal systems, Lewa, even though I have no idea what those 'sacs' are, they seem to mirror our own internal systems, only I can't find any machinery in its entire body. For instance, that 'pulsating thing' in the center of its chest is what keeps this thing alive, just like our heartstones."

This caused murmurs to arise amongst the gathered Matoran and Toa.

"Hhmm...interesting...very interesting." said Turaga Whenua. "I think I remember reading about certain Rahi that were completely organic in the Onu-Metru Archives**(5)** once. I'd originally thought that they were just a Chronicler's**(6)** exaggerated observations, but apparently they're a hundred percent accurate. I can't wait to start studying it once it wakes up. It would make an excellent addition to the Archives."

"Now, now, Whenua, let's not get carried away and prepare a new exhibit for the Archives just yet." interjected Turaga Matau. "Let us not forget that there's the possibility it could be an intelligent creature from another world, not some wild Rahi."

"Matau is right, Whenua." added Turaga Nokama. "It would be disrespectful if we automatically classify our guest as a mindless being, when it could be from a species that is well-known for its wisdom."

"Or, it could be from a race of merciless warriors and has come here destroy all life as we know it as some sort of barbaric rite of passage." interjected Turaga Onewa as he warily stared at the biped. Unlike the others, he found this creature's arrival just moments before the revival of the Great Spirit a bit _too _coincidental for his liking. Usually, these types of things only meant that horrible events were in the horizon. Suddenly the Stone Turaga looked up to see that everyone was staring him.

"What? Why are all of you looking at me like that?" he said after a long awkward silence.

It was Hahli that spoke up first. "Turaga Onewa...to say such a thing like that..."

"I'm not saying that is the case that we're facing right now, I'm just saying that it could be a possibility. It never hurts to be prepared for the worst." interrupted the Turaga of Stone. Another awkward silence soon settled in.

"So... has the creature suffered any mental injuries from the collision, Toa Gali?" said a quiet voice that hadn't been heard in a long time.

This caused everyone to turn their attention to the only Turaga that had remained silent throughout the entire ordeal: Nuju. Everyone couldn't believe that Turaga Nuju had actually spoken in their normal Matoran language instead of the bird language that he picked up during his time as a Toa. But since there was no one else that completely understood the Rahi bird language to translate for him, it made sense that he was speaking in Matoran again.

But before Gali could answer Nuju, the group heard an unfamiliar groaning sound. As the group turned to face the source of the new sound, the saw that it came from none other than the organic creature itself! Slowly but surely, the once still being began to move and regain consciousness.

**666666 **

_With Naruto_

Never in all of his life could Naurto remember a time when he had ever been this unsettled. The only times that he had ever been this disoriented was when he was recovering from the beatings that he suffered at the hands of angry civilian mobs. At first, he thought that he was just having a bad dream, or that he had overdone it during training. But suddenly remembered that he was on a mission to retrieve Sasuke, and how exactly he ended up unconscious.

'_That goddamn_, _snake-loving, son-of-a-bitch tried to take Sasuke away again! I saved him, but ended up being caught in that bastard's portal.' _

As he slowly regained his bearings, he could faintly hear several unknown voices. He tried to open his eyes, but he was still reeling from effects of his trip through the portal. All that he could see was a mixture of blurry colors and shapes, and none of them looked familiar. Then he felt a cool sensation on the back of his head and that it was somehow raised up, as if his head was resting on a pillow. He figured that his head was just resting on some metallic structure that he must've collided with when he crash-landed. But then he realized that the structure was giving off heat, just like a person would.

Then, the voices began to become more clearer. From the pitches, he could tell that there were a bunch of males and females around. Some of them sounded elderly, a few sounded like they were around his age, while a majority of them sounded like they belonged to adults. Finally, when his eyesight became more focused, Naruto was met with a sight that left him speechless. Instead of human beings, there were these metal… golems standing all around him. The majority of them looked to be the same size as a human midget. Five of them were a bit taller than the metal midgets, but looked as if they were hunched over, carrying these weird staffs, and had weird cloths draped over their shoulders. And last but not least, there were the golems that were the tallest of the entire group, and seemed to be wearing a type of armor that Naruto had never seen before. All of the metallic figures were wearing several different masks, and had bright eyes, with weird colored corneas shining in the night.

Now, when Naruto was still a young boy, the first thing he would've done was to run as far away from his current location as he could, all the while screaming bloody murder. But, after his time with Jiraiya, he realized that could well lead to a ninja's death. Still, being surrounded by these strange metal people didn't help calm his nerves. He was glad that none of them were coming any closer towards his position. Naruto was about speak when someone else beat him to the punch.

"Are you alright, little one?" said a mature feminine voice coming from up above him.

As Naruto looked up, he found himself staring into a pair of bright yellow eyes. The owner of those eyes was an armored figure who was wearing silver and blue armor that had a certain Amazoness-like style to it. She also wore a dark blue mask that looked as if it belonged to one of those mythical merpeople that he heard of during his travels. For a while, the two stayed in that position, staring into each others eyes. Naruto was completely freaked out that he was this close to one of the golems, but at the same time he felt assured that she wasn't going to try anything. That is, until he saw the golem's hand reach out towards his face. Thinking that the golem was going on the offense, Naruto regained his senses and sprung into action.

In a quick swipe, Naruto knocked the approaching hand away from him, which resulted in a wave of pain to jolt through his arm from hitting the golem's armor. Ignoring the pain, Naruto quickly backed away from the blue and silver golem, and clumsily got to his feet. This startled the smaller golems and caused the armored ones to position themselves in front of the small people. During all of this chaos, Naruto had also failed to notice that one of the clothed golems was slowly sneaking up behind him.

Thinking that they were going to attack him, Naruto's hands went for his shuriken holster and his kunai pouch, only to realize that they were missing. Now, Naruto was starting to really get worried.

"Hhhey, Hey! Wwhere am I?!" shouted Naruto. "Where's my stuff?! Who the hell are all of you?! And what the fu..."

WHACK!!!

Before Naruto could finish his sentence, he felt something hard hit the back of his head causing him to lose consciousness and then topple over once again. As the Matoran, Toa and Turaga watched Naruto collapse, they saw exactly who was the human's attacker. Standing behind him was none other than Turaga Onewa, with his Stone Hammer**(7)** firmly in his hands.

"Turaga Onewa! That was completely uncalled for!!!" shouted Nuju, who was both irritated and shocked that the former Toa Metru of Stone would resort to such action. Gali quickly rushed over to Naruto, fearing that he was injured by the sneak attack.

"What are you talking about, Nuju? You saw it yourself how this thing reacted to Toa Gali. He could've attacked us with the intent to kill at any moment." said Onewa.

"Maybe you've been out in the sun for too long, Onewa, because anyone could have clearly seen that it only reacted out of fear, not bloodlust." interjected Whenua, who was upset that Onewa attacked, and quite possibly damaged, the organic biped.

"Have all of you gone mad?!" shouted Onewa. "Have all of you forgotten all of our experiences with the Makuta?! Every time that we celebrate a victory, we let our guard down and let our confidence get the better of us. And it is our arrogance that leaves us open to another attack from Teridax! Doesn't this creature's sudden appearance just moments after the Great Spirit was revived seem just a little suspicious to you at all?! Forget the possibility of a homicidal warrior from another dimension, he could be a devoted follower of Teridax, or that accursed being himself!!!"

"No he's not." said a calm voice.

"And what makes you so sure??!!" roared Onewa, as he whipped around to glare at whoever had just spoken, which happened to be Kongu. This caused the Toa Inika to flinch at the volume and tone of the Turaga's voice.

"While _he_ was still conscious, I was able to probe into his mind. I didn't sense any dark plans or any murderous intentions at all. In fact, the only emotions that I could perceive at all were of fear and confusion." replied Kongu, his calm tone never faltering.

"Now do you see, Onewa? This being means us no harm!" said Matau.

"I'm still not convinced. Kongu, what is it thinking right now ?" asked Onewa.

"Sorry, Turaga, but I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to. For some odd reason, I can't read his mind while he's unconscious. It is as if he's able to neutralize my mask's power. But I did manage to get a name from him before he was knocked out: he is known as Naruto Uzumaki."

"It was probably just defending itself from any _would-be_ _attackers_." said Whenua while shooting a stern look towards Onewa. Onewa just said nothing.

"So, now what do we do?" asked Hahli. Lewa and Gali both looked towards Kopaka. During their travels, Tahu had made him deputy leader of the Toa Nuva in case something were to happen to him. It was a gesture that showed that Tahu was maturing and that he respected Kopaka. Upon realizing that everyone's gaze was on him, Kopaka sighed once again before he spoke up.

"For now, let's just get this Naruto inside the Coliseum. Gali, I want you and Hahli to watch over him and heal any injuries that he may have received. Kongu, contact the other Toa and find out if it's safe to enter the Coliseum again." said the Toa Nuva of Ice. He then turned his attention to the remaining Matoran. "The rest of you, once we get the all-clear signal, I suggest that you all go back to sleep once we get inside. All of you will need your strength in the morning for tomorrow, when we start the reconstruction project again. Rest assured, everything that happened tonight will be explained in the morning."

Seeing that nothing else was going to happen, and that they were all extremely sleepy, the Matoran complied with the Ice Toa's order. As the Turaga, and his fellow Toa followed the retreating Matoran towards the colossal building, Kopaka stayed for a while to look up at the star-filled sky, as if it contained a hidden explanation of what was the reason for all of this.

'_I don't know why, but for some reason I feel as if something big is going to happen in the future.' _thought the Toa Nuva, before he walked towards the Coliseum's entrance.

**666666**

_With Tahu's Team _

Kopaka wasn't the only one that had Naruto's sudden appearance in their minds. The remaining Toa that were sent to search the Coliseum couldn't stop thinking about the ninja. The team had split up so that they could make sure that every section of the Coliseum was searched. One hour later, Tahu, Pohatu, Onua, Jaller, Hewkii, and Nuparu met back at the center of the arena to discuss the results of their respective investigations.

"Well, did anyone find anything out of the ordinary?" asked Tahu.

"I searched the south side of the stands, and got nothing." replied Hewkii curtly.

"Everything seemed normal in west sector, brother." added Pohatu.

"Nothing looked out of place when I flew over the entire building." said Nuparu, who had used his Mask of Flight**(8)** to take to the sky and get a bird's eye view of the Coliseum.

"The east sector was all clear, too." said Jaller.

"And I found nothing in the north sector." finished Tahu. "But what about you, Onua? Did you find anything in the crash site, or the arena?"

"Actually, I did." replied the power-house of an Earth Toa. He then reached towards his back, and withdrew a strap that had two holsters (one large and rectangular, the other small and thin) attached to it and a small pouch from his storage pack that was guarded by the armor plating on his back. Those packs that every Toa had were truly amazing things; able to store almost anything, including their respective Toa Tools.

The remaining Toa just gawked at the two items that Onua had found without saying a word. Neither of them had any idea as to what they were. Finally, Tahu spoke up.

"Where did you find those things, Onua?" he asked.

"I found them a couple of bios**(9)** away from the crater. They most likely landed there from the impact of the creature's landing." replied Onua, as he handed the holster to Tahu, and the pouch to Pohatu. Tahu immediately began to examine the holsters thoroughly, turning it over and over to make sure that he missed nothing, unaware that Jaller and Hewkii had gathered to his sides to get a better look at the object. Finally, his eyes landed on the openings of the two holsters. Curiosity getting the better of him by each passing second, Tahu carefully opened the thin holster's opening, and reached inside the thin pocket. When his first two fingers felt a cold metallic surface, the Toa grabbed hold of it and withdrew his hand to reveal a medium-sized, double-bladed knife that had a ring on the very end of the handle.

'_Huh, never seen a tool like this before.'_ he thought, as he handed it to one of the Toa Inikas beside him. Eager to find out what the larger holster held, Tahu quickly opened the flap and plunged his hand inside, only to quickly retract it and shake it vigorously when he felt a small stabbing pain on his fingertips. As soon as the pain subdued Tahu slowly reached in again, and pulled out two sharp, four-pointed stars. As he was pulling the stars out, Tahu managed to get a peek inside the larger holster to see that there were several more of these stars left.

"Interesting, very interesting" said the red and silver Toa. He then turned to face Jaller and Hewkii. "Have any of you ever seen Toa Tools like these before?" he asked as he handed a star to each of the Inikas to examine. Jaller was the first to speak up.

"Sorry, Toa Ta..."

"Please Jaller, just regular 'Tahu' is fine. You and the rest of Inikas have already proved countless times to be worthy of the title, Toa. You don't have to address me or the rest of the Toa Nuva as you once did when you were still a Matoran." interrupted Tahu.

"Right, sorry about that," replied Jaller sheepishly, "as I was saying, I'm just as baffled as you are on what these things are. I never seen anything like these things."

"What I don't understand is what could possibly possess someone to use a tool this small." snorted Hewkii. "I mean, come on! Sure, maybe that blade could be of some use, but the stars just look pathetic. These things probably couldn't even put a dent in my laser axe**(10)**." he finished with a wild gesture with his arms, which caused him to accidentally throw the small weapon down, causing it to lodge itself into the ground with a distinguishable 'SHING!'.

The three Toa looked down to see that the star was imbedded into the ground. Hewkii bent down to retrieve it, but immediately found it difficult. With a mighty heave, the grey-armored Toa managed to pull the weapon out.

"Okay then, so maybe these tools aren't so useless after all." said Hewkii, as he took a closer look at the weapon he pulled out of the ground. Jaller, on the other hand, merely looked at the star in his hand as if he was thinking about something. Then, with a swift fling of his arm, the star landed a few bios away from the group with one of its points sticking into the ground.

"Whatever these things are, they make excellent projectiles." surmised Jaller, as he retrieved the weapon. "So I guess it's safe to assume that the same can be said for that knife you're holding Hewkii."

Tahu merely nodded in agreement before he, Jaller, and Hewkii turned their attention to the other three Toa. "What about you three? Was there anything inside that thing that could tell us who our 'guest' is?" asked Tahu.

"To tell you the truth, your guess is as good as mine, brother." started Onua, as he held out a several strange cylinders. "We found these rolled up clothes that had symbols written all over it, only these symbols are nothing like our hieroglyphic system."

The Earth Toa Nuva then handed Tahu one of the clothed cylinders, who then proceeded to open it with both Hewkii and Jaller looking over his shoulder. At first glance, the three Toa realized Onua was right; instead of seeing the circles with symbols in the middle that made up their alphabet, all they saw was a bunch of squiggly lines that were made into all sorts of shapes.

Tahu then rolled up the scroll and turned his attention back to Onua. "Was there anything else?"

"Actually there was." answered Nuparu. "There were these small knives, four-bladed stars, and this peculiar picture as well."

"Picture? What picture, and what's so peculiar about it?"

"See for yourself." said Nuparu who held a small, flimsy rectangle out in front of him for the other Toa to see. Immediately, the three Toa could see what was so strange about the picture: there was that same creature from before a taller biped being that had lots of white hair, and red lines running from it's eyes down its cheeks. The taller figure was dressed in a gray training tunic, a sleeveless red vest with two yellow circles, and two armor plates that covered the top of his hands. The tall biped was also wearing a weird pair of red footwear, and looked as if there was a very large roll of cloth on its back.

"Wait, so there're more of those things?!" said Hewkii incredulously.

"It appears so, young Toa of Stone. But the question is: where exactly did they come from, and why haven't we seen or heard about them before?" asked Onua.

"And what about that other shooting star that I saw earlier? What does all of this mean?" added Jaller.

"Who can tell?" answered Tahu bluntly "But perhaps the Turaga might have some idea as to what's going on." Suddenly, the Toa Nuva leader felt a familiar voice entering his mind.

'_Toa Tahu, this is Kongu, can you hear me?' _

"Kongu?" said Tahu aloud, which earned strange looks from the other Toa.

'_I'm communicating with you through my Kanohi Suletu_**(11)**_, just reply back through your thoughts if you can hear me.' _thought Kongu.

'_Yes, I can hear you loud and clear.' _replied Tahu telepathically. _'What is happening with your group? Have you discovered anything that might give us a lead on our visitor?' _

'_As of right now, we know that this being shares several similarities to us. Kopaka used his Mask of X-ray Vision to thoroughly examine him, and discovered that his internal structures almost exactly like ours. The only difference is that his internal body parts are completely organic.' _

'_Completely organic? Are you sure?' _

'_I'm positive, Kopaka wouldn't make this stuff up.' _

'_Right, right, of course. Sorry.' _thought Tahu, apologetically. _'Anything else?' _

'_Yes, we have the creature's name. _replied Kongu. _'His name is Naruto Uzumaki. But enough about us, how is the search progressing? Is it safe for the Matoran to go back inside the Coliseum?' _

'_Well, we didn't find any other organic bipeds around here, and we searched every bio of the Coliseum. But we did find a few items that may belong to this Naruto.' _

'_Items? What sort of items?' _asked Kongu, sudden interest easily distinguishable in his thoughts.

'_Well, for starters, we found these cloth cylinders with a foreign language written on them. They're sort of like the stone tablets from Ga-Metru's libraries. Additionally, Onua found a few weapons that we have never seen before, which may suggest that this Naruto is some kind of warrior.' _

'_Warrior, eh? Turaga Onewa is definitely going to blow a fuse when he hears this. He was the first to suggest that Naruto was from a species of deadly warriors. Anyways, is it safe to let the Matoran back in, or do you and your team need more time to make sure the building is safe?' _

'_Wait just one moment.' _thought Tahu, before he turned his attention back to the five other Toa. They were currently giving the Fire Toa weird looks.

"Sorry about that," he said, "Kongu and the others want to know if it's safe for the Matoran to return to the Coliseum or not."

"Well, since we didn't find anything that could pose a major threat, I don't see any harm in letting everyone back in." said the wise Onua.

"I agree, brother. Besides, I think that the Matoran would want to get back to sleep; it's been quite an eventful night." added Pohatu.

Tahu said nothing, but nodded in agreement. _'Kongu, are you still there?' _he sent through his thoughts.

'_Yeah, I'm still here. You wouldn't be hearing me in your head if I wasn't. So can the Matoran go back in, or not?' _was the answer the Tahu received.

'_We didn't find any other possible threats, so the Matoran should be safe. Go ahead and tell Kopaka to start moving the Matoran back in.' _

'_Copy that, Toa Tahu. I'll let Kopaka know right away.'_

As Kongu's thoughts left him, Tahu turned his attention back to the Toa around him. "Kopaka's team are bringing the Matoran and Turaga back in as we speak." he said.

"At least the Matoran will be able to get back to sleep. But, there are several things that I just don't understand." said Jaller. "Why is all of this happening now?"

None of the Toa answered out loud, as they were each coming up with their own theories as to why Naruto came to Metru Nui. But all of them hoped that this wasn't another one of Teridax's schemes to gain absolute power.

**6666666 **

_Dume's Personal Quarters_

"Turaga Dume, I don't understand." said a shocked Takanuva. "What do you mean '_the Matoran's true origins and their lost alliance with the shinobi'_?"

"And furthermore," said Turaga Vakama, "what exactly are these shinobi, and why isn't there any record of their existence? More importantly, _why _have you kept these secrets from all of us!?"

Dume just gave a tired sigh, before turned his gaze upon the Toa and Turaga before him. As Takanuva and Vakama gave their attention to Dume, they saw not the strict and stubborn Turaga, but a retired warrior and leader that had experienced many hardships and lost many dear friends throughout his life.

"I suppose," he began, "that it would be best if I started from the beginning." He then gestured to the two seats that were in front of his desk, which the two visitors took. Dume also sat down, and withdrew a large rolled-up cloth from the box.

"This scroll is the last existing record of our previous life before we severed all ties with the shinobi." he said he placed his thumb on a symbol that was located on the left end of the scroll and channeled some his heat energy into it. The symbol briefly flashed before it disappeared completely. Dume then placed the scroll on his desk and rolled it to the end of the table, so that Takanuva and Vakama could see the contents of the scroll's outermost layer.

As the visiting Turaga and Toa looked down upon the scroll, they realized that the format of the scroll was of alien origin. Even though the writing was in their hieroglyphics, the symbols appeared to be written from top to bottom, instead of the traditional left to right. The tapestry was also divided into several large rectangular sections by vertical lines. In the middle of the revealed tapestry, there was a large dark, black rectangle with a thin red rectangle acting as an outer border that filled up a huge section on its own.

"Long, long ago, before Metru Nui ever existed, our ancestors, we'll call them Tohunga for now, lived by a culture that was completely different to the one that all of us are so familiar with nowadays. Unlike current times, the Tohunga lived in on major colony instead of separate villages. At that point in time, they were gifted with building and inventing advanced technology, such as cameras, telescreens**(12)** and Kanoka Disk launchers**(13)** in a way to try and find their purpose. This tinkering soon progressed to the creation of massive transports, communication devices, security drones, and the creation of Kanohi Masks of Power**(14) **from the combination of Kanoka Disks**(15)**. Yet despite these technological achievements, our people still felt empty."

"After staying in one place for an extended period of time, the Tohunga felt that in order to discover their true purpose, they needed to have a better understanding about the world that they lived in. To do this, the leader of the Tohunga began form several exploration teams, each one consisting of a chronicler that traveled to unknown lands and documented everything that they saw. The expedition lasted for seven years, in which the teams returned to the main settlement to share the data they collected. While going through the collected data, the Tohunga had came across something that would change their lives forever."

Dume then placed his right index and middle fingers on the black rectangle and channeled some more of his heat energy, all the while making what looked like a fist with his left hand, only that the index and middle fingers were sticking straight up. Instantly, the black inside the red rectangle started to twist and contort until the rectangle was replaced with a large circle that had a mixture of black and white swirling around like water flowing down a drain.

"They discovered this naturally occurring phenomenon merely by accident. When an exploration team seat up camp for the night, they woke up to discover that one of their guard drones went missing. They had searched everywhere for it, but it was never found. Originally, they thought that it had malfunctioned, strayed from the camp and had broken down, so the explorers continued on with their mission. But when the team examined the drones' recordings, they found out that the lost drone was able to record its last moments of functionality. What it recorded was an image that looked exactly like the one you now see right in front of you."

"Curious to what this image was, another research team was formed and then traveled to the location where the spectacle last took place. There, the team set up a research station and waited for a chance to study the natural wonder. While they waited, the Tohunga experimented with the drones so that they were more durable, had longer lasting power supplies, and were designed for large-scale exploration. It was on the seventh month that the strange anomaly appeared again, and gave our people the chance that they've waited for. They sent the drones into the anomaly, hoping to find out more about the strange spectacle. With the data that the drones collected, it was concluded that the object was some sort of vortex that served as a passage way to an unknown destination. However, despite the improvements and modifications, the trip to this world was far too taxing for the drones and were very low on power once they reached their destination. Nonetheless, with what remaining power that they had in their reserves, the drones were able to transmit data back to the station. After examining the transmissions, the researchers were shocked to discover that the drones were transmitting from an entirely different world. It was in this world that our ancestors were first introduced to a completely new life form: the humans."

The swirling portal on the scroll suddenly changed into the form of a black and white picture of two naked humans standing next to each other. The one on the left looked very similar to Naruto in the way its body appeared. Underneath the picture, the word _Male _was written in their hieroglyphics. The figure on the right was slightly similar to the male human, except this figure was a bit shorter, curvier, and differed in the chest and pelvic area. _Female_ was written underneath the shorter human.

"Coincidentally, these humans looked exactly like our ancestors. In fact, they looked so alike that any normal bystander couldn't be able to tell which was which."

At that moment, Vakama decided to speak up, before he became too confused. "What do you mean by that, Turaga Dume? These…humans…look nothing like us. How can they possibly be…"

But he was soon cut off when Dume abruptly raised his hand, cutting off Vakama at mid sentence.

"I assure you, Vakama, everything will be explained. But please, refrain from interrupting me until I am done. There is still a lot more for me to cover." Dume said calmly. Seeing the look in his senior Turaga's eyes, Vakama did what was asked of him and became silent. Takanuva just kept quiet, deciding to wait Dume finish his tale.

"Contrary to our records, we didn't always have this appearance." said Dume as he gestured to himself. "In fact, our ancestors were once completely organic, just like a human is. That was why this discovery had such a drastic effect on the entire population; it was the first sign that life existed in another world. Excited, the Tohunga began to debate on what to do with this information. One party wanted to further investigate the new world and make contact with the humans that inhabited it. Another group wanted to just keep the recorded data, and observe the humans from afar. And another group wanted to do away with the information all together. But in the end, it was decided that a team composed of the greatest explorers that the Tohunga had to offer. Using the seven month interval of which the portal appeared, The Tohunga researched and experimented on ways to vastly improve the technology that the exploration party would need in their extraordinary journey. In order to ensure the teams safety, the engineers and scientists developed an all-purpose transportation capsule to be used in the expedition.

"It was a day that was remembered by all of the Tohunga when the exploration team bordered the capsule, and then flew off towards the portal. And there was even more celebration once the team sent a transmission telling the research station that everyone made it through safely. That was the last time our ancestors heard from them before all communications were cut off in order for the explorers to be able to complete their objective without any distractions, and for security measures as well.

"It was seven more months later that the exploration team's transport capsule returned through the portal, along with every member of the team as well as a plethora of new information of the mystery world that left the entire population speechless. While in our world, the team had been missing for seven months, they realized that time in the human world progressed a lot slower. So slow, that it seemed as if only a month had passed since their arrival. Additionally, after the capsule successfully made it to the other world, the team found out that they had landed in a still-developing village called Konohagakure, or otherwise known as the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Furthermore, the populace of the Leaf Village seemed to live in two separate classes. The majority of the people were composed of merchants, craftsmen, and normal civilians, just like a good portion of the Tohunga were. And another group consisted of warriors that were capable of extraordinary abilities that our ancestors thought to be impossible to do. From running on water to defeating an entire army by their bare hands, these warriors seemed to time and time again defy the laws of reality. These warriors were called the shinobi, or otherwise known as the ninja.

"Now, the ninja had four different fighting styles in which they exerted their power. One the most known style was taijutsu, which focused on a ninja fighting his opponent without any use of a tool; just their hands and feet. The second style, known as genjutsu, relied on creating illusions that were so powerful, so lifelike, that only the most skilled ninja could break free from them. But probably the most popular fighting style that was used the most often was ninjutsu. It was with ninjutsu that the ninja were able to perform amazing feats, even as far as creating thousands upon thousands of clones of themselves. Additionally, the shinobi were also well-practiced in the way of armed combat, utilizing such tools as swords, kunai knives, and shruiken throwing stars.

"At first, communication attempts with Leaf's populace were, as expected, a bit haphazard and far from successful. The locals thought that our ancestors were drug-addicted nomads right from their first encounter with each other. But once the Tohunga revealed their advanced gadgetry and tools, they immediately became celebrities, and was even considered as being geniuses. The populace were practically drawn to our technology like Nui-Ramas**(16)** to a horde of lightstones. Likewise, our ancestors became fascinated with the ninja's knowledge of the ninja arts. Soon, another debate was started on how to act on this new knowledge. And once again, the colony was split into two separate groups: one group was content with the data from the expedition and just thought it would be best if we cut off all connections from this strange world, while the other group wanted to learn more. The more conservative party argued that any further contact with the shinobi would lead to the destruction of our way of life. While the more liberal party countered with the possibility that these ninja might help us find what we have been missing in our lives. Seeing as they were getting nowhere on finding a solution, the councilors decided to put the problem to a vote for the entire population. That way, the situation would be resolved fairly and quickly. In the end the liberal party won, and seven months later, sent another inter-dimensional capsule to the shinobi world. Only this time, the capsule carried the Tohunga Head Council, who was intent on making an alliance with the Leaf Village's current leader at that time: Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage.

"After several days of negotiating, our ancestors and the shinobi had come to a mutual agreement: the Tohunga would agree to provide assistance in constructing the Hidden Leaf Village and help arm the shinobi corps with their state-of-the art technology, in exchange for instructions in the ninja arts.

"Thus began a long, peaceful, and friendly relationship between Tohunga and shinobi. Through our tech, the Leaf Village was completed in a matter of days. And, thanks to the Leaf ninja, our ancestors were able to use chakra and discover their own elemental powers, locked inside our very own bodies.

Upon seeing their confused faces, Dume changed the image of the two humans to one of a circle that was made up of two curved tear drop sections: one was yellow and the other was blue. The yellow was marked with **BODY, **and the blue was marked with **MIND**. Seeing that his audience was still confused, he explained further. "Chakra is the energy that a ninja derives from the trillions of cells that make up their body and from the mental and spiritual energies that one gains from experience and training." The circle then began to swirl around until the two colors merged and became full complete green circle with **CHAKRA **written in the center. "It is with this chakra that ninja were able to perform ninjutsu. With this knowledge, and months worth of intense training, the Tohunga were able to unlock their elemental powers, and thus created a new type of ninjutsu that focused around the elements: fire, water, air, ice, stone, earth, lightning, magnetism, and light, and many others as well. This new development, as well as with our Kanoka Disks and Kanohi Masks only made the Tohunga even more popular amongst the ninja. In turn, thanks to our technology, the shinobi had developed several new inventions: from long-ranged communication devices to a ninjutsu that recreated the original inter-dimensional portal. With this ninjutsu, shinobi were able to set foot on our world for the first time.

"As time went on, both the Tohunga and the shinobi began to explore what each new world had to offer. Thanks to the Tohunga, other shinobi villages such as the Hidden Sand Village and the Hidden Clouds Village soon began to prosper. Additionally, thanks to the influence that the shinobi had on the Tohunga's world, our ancestors developed a way to fully unlock their elemental powers. As a result, the select few of our ancestors grew in size, strength, speed, and could create and manipulate their own element just by a mere thought. In combination with a unique tool, these warriors were truly formidable opponents that any shinobi could face off against. The shinobi had many names for these warriors: wizards, grand masters, and even gods. But many had just resided into calling them heroes, or in our language, Toa. Additionally, with the discovery of their elemental affinities, our ancestors were inspired to construct their own villages based on their elemental affinities: fire, water, air, ice, stone, earth, light, magnetism, lightning; the list goes on. Eventually, the numerous villages were strung together into one huge city, with the Coliseum being its center point and the most important building of all. The city became known as Metru Nui.

"Unfortunately, quite a few ninja felt threatened, believing that the Toa would soon make all of the ninja obsolete. To remedy this problem, each Toa agreed to take on one apprentice that they felt was worthy of learning their fighting style and the way of their element, on the condition that the ninja would only use their power to protect their people and their homeland. Sadly, this decision was not without negative consequences. While some pure-hearted ninja were grateful to have the privilege of being apprenticed to the Toa, there were those that eventually became corrupt, and were consumed with greed, arrogance, and lust for more power. These fallen ones that seemed to have resided mainly in the Villages Hidden in the Stones, Mist, and Darkness would blatantly use their powers to intimidate their enemies into submission. Anyone that dared to oppose them were destroyed. They would even go as far as to abduct their former mentors and perform live experiments on them just to see if there was way to increase their own power.

"When this breakthrough was brought to the attention of the Toa and the Kages of the Hidden Leaf, Sand, and Cloud Villages, a war was declared against the offending nations; a war so terribly, so devastating, that it would be later known in the Elemental Nations as the First Great Shinobi War. At that time, I was still Dume, Toa of Fire, and one of the many Toa that led a team to fight with the Leaf nin. During the war, my team and I had the opportunity to fight along Tobirama Senju (Hashirama's younger brother and future successor) and his own team of chunin: Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado. We got along fine with Hiruzen, who was kind-hearted, courageous, and was willing to do anything to protect his comrades and his home. His teammates, while more than capable as shinobi of their ranks, had a more militant mentality than their teammate. But nonetheless, they were willing to but aside their differences and work together in the grueling and unforgiving battles that lay ahead."

With a saddened deep sigh, Dume closed the scroll and put it back into the box before continuing on. "War is, and always has been, nothing short but a living nightmare. The battles that we witnessed would later haunt us veterans for the rest of our lives. Everywhere you looked, there were corpses of both Toa and shinobi alike, scattered about the area. Once proud villages were reduced to burning ruins in seconds. The land itself was permanently scarred by our war. After months of seemingly endless combat, the allied forces of valiant Toa and shinobi successfully defeated the corrupted dissenters, but not without paying a heavy price. In the efforts to stop these power-hungry megalomaniacs, thousands of warriors from both sides lost their lives. Several were left with broken bodies, with the most severe cases resulting in the warrior's premature retirement. Those that were lucky to survive the battles would never be the same again. In the end, only five Hidden Villages were left standing: Leaf, Sand, Mist, Clouds, and Stone. These five villages would later become the most powerful Hidden Villages in all of the Elemental Nations.

"Almost immediately, a meeting was held between the five Kages and the Toa in an attempt to form a ceasefire that will ensure peace and harmony for future generations. Luckily, the war had taken the previous Mizukage and Tsuchikage, who had supported the dissenters' blatant abuse of their powers. For this meeting, the Hidden Mist and Stone Villages selected more sensible and level-headed Shinobi as there leaders. Once everyone had arrived , the first issue that was discussed was what Mist and Stone's punishments should be for housing the defectors that started the war in the first place. The two villages were to pay hefty war fines to the Allied Forces, impose a life-long ban on any surviving apprentices, and were to decommission nearly sixty percent of their shinobi forces. Naturally, Mist and Stone were outraged with these demands, arguing that they would be ruined if they agreed to these decrees. But given that the other option of the continuation of the war, and the fact that both of the villages' main forces were dwindling, the two Kages of the offending Villages reluctantly agreed to the terms given to them.

"Then came the next problem: what to do with the Toa's apprentices. Originally, the Kages wanted to impose a law that the each Toa could only have one apprentice that would undergo a ten-year training period before they were deemed worthy to wield our powers, to ensure that they were never used for evil again. Three out of the five Kages there liked the idea. We, on the other hand, didn't think that the law was going to be enough. Horrified and disgusted at the total devastation that was caused by their gifts, the Toa felt that more drastic measures had to be taken to ensure a peaceful future for the Elemental Countries. The Toa and Tohunga believed that it would be best if they exiled themselves back to their original homeland, and that all knowledge of Kanoka Disks, Kanohi Masks, the inter-dimensional jutsu, as well as their elemental arts should be destroyed and sealed away forever.

"Naturally, the Kages were surprised by this course of action. They had tried to convince the Toa of a different approach, but the Toa could not be swayed. Even though much good had came from Tohungan technology, it was the arts of the Toa that were too dangerous for anyone to wield. Like the old saying goes, '_with great power comes great responsibility_'. Having seen the numerous casualties caused by the war, the Kages agreed with the Toa's proposition. So, with the burning of the records for the inter-dimensional jutsu, and the smelting of all Kanoka Disks and Kanohi Masks, we bade our comrades farewell as the naturally occurring portal opened and we made our final and last trip.

"Once every Toa and Tohunga made it back to Metru Nui, a meeting was held at the Coliseum, where we activated the second phase of our plan. We had our best genjutsu expert cast one of the most powerful illusions over the entire population to give us our current appearance as a last ditch effort to conceal ourselves on the off chance that a rogue shinobi made it through the portal.

"The next few decades proved to be increasingly difficult. Without the influence of our shinobi comrades, we became yet again lost and without a meaningful purpose Both the lightning and magnetism Tohunga grew tired of living in Metru Nui, and decided to relocate their villages in one of the locations that they discovered. Then for some reason the light Tohunga decided to leave as well, without offering any explanation. Soon, a vast majority of Tohunga districts began to leave the city to settle elsewhere, leaving only the Tohunga villages of fire, water, air, stone, ice, and earth. With only six districts left in Metru Nui, it seemed as if we were destined to amble about our world, without a clue as to what our purpose was for all eternity.

But then, one day, something extraordinary happened. The Great Spirit himself, Mata Nui, visited us and gave us three virtues to give our lives meaning: unity, duty, and destiny. Unity, the belief that only when we are united as one group that we can truly accomplish anything. Duty, the principle that everyone has a responsibility to carry out in their life. And destiny, the rule that everyone has one true purpose in the greater scheme of things in life. To show our gratitude for these gifts, the Tohunga renamed themselves the Matoran, in honor of the Great Spirit himself. Additionally, the Great Spirit created an organization of warriors called the Brotherhood of Makuta**(17)** in order to help the Toa protect the Matoran. These Makutas were gifted with multiple powers, making them powerful enough to easily defeat any lone Toa."

"But our new peaceful way of living was soon interrupted by one rogue member, Makuta Teridax. His arrival led to several catastrophic events that he tried to use as a way to betray Mata Nui and gain complete control over the Matoran: such as the corruption of the Brotherhood of Makuta, the theft of the Kanohi Avohkii**(18)**, even going as far as to force his creator into a slumber through the use of a virus, as well as being the mastermind behind the Great Cataclysm**(19)**. On top of that, when I became Turaga, the Dark Hunters**(20)** started a war against the Toa because I refused to allow them to set up a base in Metru Nui. That war had cost the lives of several heroic Toa. And then finally, I was put into an artificial coma by Teridax himself! Basically, one event lead to another, which ended with our current situation."

As he finished, Vakama and Takanuva just gaped at Dume, completely shell-shocked with what they had just learned. This time, Takanuva was the first to make himself heard.

"What, you've left a few things unexplained, Turaga Dume. You said that the first Toa _sealed _the knowledge of their elemental powers away, what did you mean by that?" he said.

The elder Turaga reached back in the safe deposit box and withdrew a long rectangular box. "During the preparations for the self exile" said Dume, "the Toa gathered all of their apprentices, both the loyal and dissenters, in which they performed a massive transference ninjutsu. Through the expertise of the greatest seal masters that were available at that time, the Toa withdrew all of their elemental powers, and all of the knowledge and secrets on how to use them from the apprentices, and sealed them into separate gemstones."

With that, Dume opened the hinged covering of the box to reveal seven different moderately-sized gemstones. Takanuva could easily distinguish which stone had which element sealed inside of it. The golden crystal was shining rays of light very brightly. The red one shone bright red, and looked as if there was a flame dancing inside of it. The white one had frost coating it, and had cold air flowing off it in vapors. The light green stone looked as if it was containing a massive cyclone in its center. The black one had a thin layer of dirt covering it. The brown one appeared to have been filled with sandstone and rubble. And finally, the blue one seemed as if there was a raging waterfall trapped inside. As Takanuva leaned closer to get a better look at them, the gemstones began to glow their respective colors, making the light Toa veer back in shock.

"As you can see," began Dume as he shut the lid again, "the gemstones react strongly whenever a Toa is around. That is part of the safety mechanism that the early Toa created. You see, there are only three people that can safely handle these stones: either by a Toa, Turaga, or by the one person whose chakra is compatible for a specific element. In the case that someone was foolish enough to try and steal a stone, the stone's element would act to destroy anyone that was unworthy of their secrets. They called this 'the wrath of the elements'."

"Then why are there only seven stones, Dume? I thought that there were more than seven elements that a Toa could control."

"Indeed there are, Vakama. But the elemental Matoran groups that left Metru Nui thought that their secrets would be better protected if they took their stones with them." replied Dume.

"Back to the Shinobi/Toa war, did you ever find out who convinced the apprentices to become dissenters?"

"Yes. It was at the meeting with the Kages that it was discovered that the dissenters all followed one person, Madara Uchiha. Madara was originally the head of the Uchiha clan, known for their jutsu-copying kekkei genkai genetic trait known as the Sharingan, and one of the founders on the Village Hidden in the Leaves. When it came to deciding who would be the village's new leader, Madara believed that he and his clan were the only reasonable choice, and was very offended when the villagers nominated Hashirama as the First Hokage. Madara tried to rally support from his clan and village to challenge Senju for his position, but that resulted in everyone spurning him with disgust. Even his own clan abandoned him.

"Angered by this betrayal, Madara left the village with the intent of coming back to exact his revenge and to take back what he thought was rightfully his. A few years later, he kept his promise as he came back, riding on top of one of the most feared demons of the land, the Nine-Tailed Fox, leading an army of dissenters to invade the Leaf Village. While Team Tobirama and my team of Toa led the main forces to fight the dissenters, Hashirama went off to face Madara and the Nine-Tailed Fox. The battle was a fierce one, one which left a humongous scar on the landscape. But, in the end, Hashirama came out victorious, and Madara disappeared without a trace. Their battlefield was so vastly altered, that the Leaf nins and civilians erected enormous statues of the combatants and christened the area "The Final Valley". Coincidentally, before that fateful battle, that area was also the location where the ninja performed the Inter-Dimensional Portal Jutsu."

"…So all of this bloodshed…all of this loss of life…was caused by one jealous ninja that was mad because he didn't get his way?" asked Takanuva disbelievingly.

Dume just nodded his head.

Takanuva just leaned back in his seat, trying to process all that he learned. He was shocked that all this time, he and everyone else in Metru Nui were actually organic and that they once lived in an entirely dimension. But what was really bothering him was how the First Great Shinobi/Toa War was started over something so trivial. This Madara figure just sounded too much like Teridax that it frightened him.

"But Turaga Dume, what does all of this have to with the being that just crash-landed here?" asked Vakama, breaking Takanuva's thoughts.

"Did you see the headband that he was wearing Vakama?" responded Dume, who was putting the safe-deposit box back into its safe.

"No, not really. I didn't get a good look at it."

"In the center of it was the symbol of The Hidden Leaf Village, meaning that male human is a shinobi from Hashirama's village." answered Dume as he was making his way out of his private chambers. "Now, I believe it is time that we greet our long lost ally, and find out just has happened to the ninja world after all this time."

Without another word Dume, followed by Vakama and Takanuva, left the chambers to visit the first Leaf ninja to be seen in Metru Nui in years.

_To Be Continued… _

**666666 **

**Here it is, the new update. Sorry that you all had to wait so long, but my parents took my laptop away, and I have to sneak time on the family computer to work on this story. **

**Matoran-English Translations **

**1) Kanohi Akaku Nuva (Mask of X-ray Vision): Toa Kopaka Nuva's Mask of Power, allowing him to see through certain objects. It also has limited telescopic abilities, allowing Kopaka to see things from a distance. Since it is a Kanohi Nuva Mask, its powers are greater than a regular Kanohi Mask. **

**2) The Matoran of Metru Nui are divided into six different sub groups. Each group has a specific elemental affinity and color that is prominent in their village. For example: ****Ga-Matoran****: water & blue, ****Onu-Matoran****: earth & black, ****Ta-Matoran****: fire & red, ****Po-Matoran****: stone & brown, ****Le-Matoran****: air & green, and ****Ko-Matoran****: ice & white. Specifically, the Ga-Matoran and Onu-Matoran are the known teachers and archivists in Metru Nui. **

**3) Crack-Break: Treespeak way of saying broken **

**4) Apart from their enhanced powers, Kanohi Nuva Masks have the ability to share another Nuva Masks' power just by being near the mask's wielder. If Lewa wanted to see through a rock wall, and Kopaka was near by, he could use Kopaka's mask power of X-ray Vision, despite not wearing his own X-ray Vision mask.**

**5) Onu-Metru Archives: a large museum in Onu-Metru that houses things such as ancient Matoran tools, Rahi beasts(both dead and alive), Matoran art, and old carvings **

**6) Chronicler: a Matoran occupation in which the Matoran must record important events and deliver news from village to village (or from district to district) **

**7) Stone Hammer: Turaga Onewa's staff and Turaga Badge of Office. It is in the shape of a hammer (of course). **

**8) Kanohi Kadin, the Mask of Flight: Toa Nuparu's Mask of Power, which allows him to fly through the air by his own power, without needing a running start to get off the ground. **

**9) Bio: A Matoran unit of Measurement. There are three units of measurement. 1 bio = 4.5 feet = 1.37 meters; 1 kio = 1,000 bio = 4,500 feet/0.85 miles = 1.37 kilometers; 1 mio = 1,000 kio = 850 miles = 1,370 kilometers. A Toa is around 1.6 bio tall. **

**10) Laser Axe: Toa Hewkii's Toa Tool, which also has his Climbing Chain attached to its base. It is used to channel Hewkii's stone power, lacerated with lightning, and can vibrate at speeds that allows it to cleave stones into two. The axe could also be used in combination with the Climbing Chain to rock climb. **

**11) Kanohi Suletu, the Mask of Telepathy: Toa Kongu's Kanohi Mask, which allows him to read the thoughts of others as well as project his own into another's mind. He can also use the mask to project the thoughts of someone into another being's mind, or project mental noise in an enemy's mind. **

**12) Telescreens: the Matoran version of an everyday monitor or television screen. **

**13) Kanoka Disk Launchers: A Matoran weapon that was used to launch Kanoka Disks. **

**14) Kanohi Masks of Power: Kanohi (Matoran word for "mask") are masks with unique powers such as shielding or underwater breathing. For Kanohi, they come in four different levels depending on the wearer. Matoran masks have no power, but are needed to help function properly. If a Matoran were to be without a mask for an extended period of time, they would end up in a coma-like state until it's replaced. The masks worn by Turagas are known as Noble Masks, which allows them to access the power. A Turaga would suffer extreme weakness if the mask were to be removed. Toa masks are know as Great Masks, which offer a stronger power than its Noble counterparts. Toa usually experience dizziness and weakness if they take off their masks. The fourth level of Kanohi are Legendary Masks, which offer a power that is beyond a normal mask, and which no Noble or Matoran level versions exist. The only two known Legendary Masks known are Kanohi Vahi (the Mask of Time) and Kanohi Ignika (the Mask of Life). **

**15) Kanoka Disks: Kanoka (Matoran word for "disk") are forged from purified liquid Protodermis ( a Matoran substance). Each disk has a unique power and special ability depending on where it was made and who made them. The main powers that Kanoka would have are: random transformation, freezing, weakening, poison removal, enlarging, shrinking, regeneration, and teleportation. Each disk also has a special ability that is unique from each elemental sector: **

**Ta-Metru: strong enough to knock things out of its path, **

**Ga-Metru: can alter its path through the user's thoughts, **

**Le-Metru: can fly further than other disks, **

**Po-Metru: deflects other disks from their course, **

**Ko-Metru: can doge obstacles in order to reach target, **

**Onu-Metru: will return to launcher if diverted from course. **

**Additionally, Kanoka have variant power levels from a scale of 1 through 9, 1 being the weakest power level, and 9 being the strongest. However, there are no longer any power level 9 disks in existence any more. Kanohi are made from these disks by sometimes fusing them into one disk, or just by using one disk completely. What type of mask that can be made is determined by the power level of the disk. Matoran masks are made from disks with power levels 1 through 6, Noble Masks use disks with power level 7, and Great Masks are made of power level 8 disks. Only the Vahi was made of disks with the power level 9. **

**16) Nui-Ramas: large insect-like Rahi beasts with huge claws and a stinger. They look somewhat similar to a dragonfly. **

**17) The Brotherhood of Makuta was once an organization whose duty was to ensure that the Matoran lived in a healthy and peaceful environment. But, as time progressed forward, the Makuta began to believe that their powers would be best served by conquering and ruling over all life. It was when Makuta Teridax overthrew the Brotherhood's leader that the organization was consumed by darkness and evil. **

**18) Kanohi Avohkii, the Mask of Light, is Toa Takanuva's main mask. This one-of-a-kind mask has the power grant the user Toa-level range and strength of Elemental Light powers, spread understanding to others in order to create peace and trust, as well as sense moral light in sentient creatures. **

**19) The Great Cataclysm (a.k.a. the Great Shadow) was when Makuta Teridax forced the Great Spirit in a deep coma. During this time, Teridax (who was at the time posing as Turaga Dume) planned to take over Metru Nui by imprisoning the population of Metru Nui (including the real Dume) within stasis pods that put them into a forced hibernation as well as erase all of their memories. Once the population was reawakened, Teridax planned on making the Matoran his followers by telling them lies about being their only savior. This plan was foiled by the Toa Metru (Turagas Vakama, Matau, Nokama, Onewa, Nuju, and Whenua when they were still Toa) who relocated the Matoran to the island of Mata Nui, and sacrificed their Toa powers to reawaken the Matoran. Dume was the only one to escape his pod without losing his memory due to system malfunctions. Some other side affects of the Cataclysm included: the creation of the island Mata Nui, the severe devastation of the majority of Metru Nui, and much more. **

**20) The Dark Hunters are a society that is mainly made up of warriors, bounty hunters, and thieves. The Hunters are unprincipled, neither good or evil, but will do any job that pays well. But since their methods are usually violent and shadowy, they are usually hired by the Brotherhood of Makuta. A Dark Hunter is generally as strong as a Toa, and have been known for killing them whenever they fight them. The Hunters are led by the mysterious being that is known as The Shadowed One, since his true name was lost long ago. **

**Sorry if this seems a bit too much, but I'll make sure that the next chapter won't have as much BIONICLE terms as this one. If a few things don't make sense, the just go to biosector01. com, or watch **_**Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui **_**to clear things up. And be sure to check out my first poll on my profile. See you guys later!**


	7. Propositions and Deliberations

**The Forgotten Prophecy **

**Hey, guys. I own absolutely nothing. **

'_Blah'_- inner thoughts

"Blah"** -** talking

'_**Blah' **_- demon/monster speaking

"**Blah" -** jutsu being performed

"**BLAH"** - really angry yelling

**# **- scene change

**7777777 **

**Chapter 7: Propositions and Deliberations **

_Back in Konohagakure _

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE HE COULD HAVE BEEN TRANSPORTED?" hollered Tsunade of the Senju clan, and Godaime Hokage. She was currently having a very bad day. When she had first heard from a messenger that Squad 7 had arrived back with Sasuke Uchiha, she initially thought that Naruto had once again done the impossible. Her good mood turned sour, however, when the messenger told her that Naruto Uzumaki was missing from the group. Immediately fearing the worse, she had her ANBU guards escort the returning team to an interrogation room, as well as call in Ibiki. She had also sent a slug messenger to Jiraiya to alert him of his student's current predicament. Now, she was in a race against time, as she knew that those two bothersome, meddling council elders would try to interfere and dictate on how she should handle the situation she was currently facing. She didn't even want to think about the damage Danzo could inflict, knowing that the old warmonger was plotting something, and that he was proficiently skilled at covering his tracks. It wouldn't take long for either party to catch wind of what had happened.

As soon as Squad 7 was safely escorted to the room, Tsunade immediately had her guards restrain Sasuke by placing chakra-suppressing shackles on both his arms and legs, had him chained to a wall (making sure that he couldn't perform any hand signs), and placed a blindfold over his eyes. She didn't want to take any chances in case the prisoner was plotting something, which led to her current situation.

"I meant what I said." was the reply that she got from Sasuke.

"And do you really think that we would actually believe any of that bullshit?" said Tsunade menacingly. She was more than tempted to punch the bastard through the building.

"Look, you've known Orochimaru longer than I have, so you know what he is capable of. He created the ninjutsu that brings back the dead, why is what I've told you so hard to believe?" said Sasuke, who was starting to get irritated at how bull-headed the Fifth Hokage was being. If things continued at the current pace, they would miss possibly their only chance of getting Naruto back.

"How about the fact that you voluntarily defected from Leaf two and a half years ago in order train under him, hm? Or the fact that you were willing to kill anyone that kept you from reaching Sound! Do you have any idea what the retrieval team went through to bring you back, or how close three of the members were to death after fighting you and your little entourage! And now, you allow yourself to be taken back to the very village you so desperately wanted to abandon, without so much of a fight!" said Tsunade, her voice growing louder with each passing word. "How do I know that you haven't allowed yourself to be caught so easily as a part of one of your twisted, power-hungry plots?"

Sasuke was doing his best not to lose his cool during the Hokage's tongue-lashing, but he was slowly starting to wonder if all of this had been a bad idea. He knew that the Sound Village held a possible way to locate Naruto, but they didn't have much time. They had to act now before they missed their opportunity.

"At first, I didn't care what happened to me so long as I got strong enough to finally obtain my vengeance on my brother. I've heard several people tell me that I was wasting my life away, or that I was heading down a path of darkness with no way of returning to my past life, but I've never paid any attention to what they said. I thought of them as strangers that didn't know what they were talking about. But Naruto, however, changed all of that. He actually showed me what I have become, and how I had went against everything that my clan once believed in. I realized that I had dragged my family's name and reputation in the mud during my time with Orochimaru."

Sasuke then turned to face Tsunade, despite being blindfolded. "I swear to you, Lady Tsunade, I was willing to go back to Leaf without a fight and face the consequences for my crimes before Orochimaru interfered. Where he and Naruto went when they went through the portal, I have no idea. I _**do **_know of a way to possibly find Naruto, however, we need to act fast while Sound is without Orochimaru. If we miss this opportunity, then we might lose any hope of finding him."

Tsunade stared at the bound Uchiha intensely, before she turned her attention to Ibiki.

"Well?" she barked.

"The Uchiha's heart rate was at a constant pace and showed no sign of elevating whenever he spoke. Additionally, I didn't see any erratic eye movement behind the blindfold. He seems to be telling the truth, but I wouldn't put it past him to try something, considering who his master was for the past two and a half years."

Sasuke wanted to shout back at Ibiki for that comment, but was trying his hardest to keep his mouth shut. He knew that the Hokage would never take him seriously if he made one wrong move. Meanwhile, Tsunade was in a tough spot of her own. At one hand, she could believe what the Uchiha was saying was true, and run the risk of falling into one of her ex-teammate's traps. On the other hand, she could just as easily lock up the traitor for life and be done with the whole mess, but lose a possible chance to rescue Naruto. Memories of when she had first met the blonde knucklehead started to rise up. At first, she had just marked him as a loud, naïve rookie that didn't know what really went on in the world; all of his rants about him becoming Hokage just seemed like empty promises that he would have given up once he realized how hard it would be. But after seeing how he had fought to keep her safe from Kabuto, even going as far as taking a kunai knife through the hand, she had to admit that the whisker-marked boy was one of a kind. And it would have been a crime not to do everything that she could to bring him back.

With a deep sigh, she turned to Sakura. Her second apprentice was the only one that had seen everything, and was now the only person whose opinion she could safely count on. She would have just examined Yamato's report, but since he was unconscious throughout the entire situation his report wouldn't have eased her doubts at all.

"Well? Can he be trusted?" she asked gruffly.

Momentarily caught off guard by her mentor's question, Sakura quickly regained her serious expression before responding. "He…he seemed serious enough Lady Tsunade. He seemed truly sorry for what happened to Naruto." she said.

Tsunade just looked at her for a brief moment. "Sakura, are you absolutely, without a doubt, sure about this? I know that you still-"

"This has nothing to do with that, Lady Tsunade!" interjected Sakura. "I assure you that I am not letting my personal feelings influence my decisions. I just think that Sasuke is our best bet in finding Naruto since he is the second closet person to Orochimaru, next to Kabuto. Besides, he's the only other person that has working knowledge about the jutsu Orochimaru used to escape!"

There was a tense silence between the two kunoichi, as they stared heatedly at each other. Sakura was irked that her mentor had brought up her past like that. She knew that she acted stupid when she was younger, but she was different now! Tsunade just said nothing as she looked at her apprentice. Sure, she could safely admit that Sakura had drastically changed for the better, she was still afraid that her crush on Sasuke wasn't completely forgotten as the pinkette would have liked to believe. After all, no one could forget about their first crush completely. She was about to say something, when suddenly the door cracked open, and Shizune quickly zipped inside the room before the door was quickly shut behind her.

"Lady Tsunade, the Council has been badgering me for the past hour on where you are and what are you doing! If I don't give them an answer soon, they're going to call an emergency shinobi clan head meeting to try and replace you!" shrieked Shizune.

"WHAT? On what grounds! They can't do that!" replied Sakura.

"The Elders are seeing Lady Tsunade's absence as her doing some sort of underhanded dealing with some unknown party!" replied Shizune.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" roared Tsunade.

"They're already angry that you've delayed in taking the proper procedures when Sasuke was still a missing-nin! If they knew that you were down here interrogating him personally this whole time, it will only strengthen their belief that you are showing special treatment to a ninja that was supposed to be marked as a traitor nearly three years ago!"

'_Shit! I was hoping that I would have more time before those decrepit fools started sticking their noses in where they don't belong!' _thought Tsunade. Now, more than ever, she had to make a decision fast. So with a deep sigh, she turned to face Sasuke.

"Alright, Uchiha, here's how it's going to go down…"

**7777777 **

_Back at Metru Nui _

"Argh...my freaking head…what hit me?" muttered Naruto as he tried to regain his bearings, once again.

"Turaga Onewa's Stone Hammer, what else?" said a male voice.

"Oh…okay…" said Naruto, stile in his daze. A second later, his eyes shot wide open, as he remembered what he saw before he last lost consciousness. He had hoped that his last experience was just a dream; that he was lost somewhere in an uncharted ninja territory. That hope was instantly crushed when his eyes landed on the clothed and armored metal golems that were gathered around him. He noticed the smaller ones weren't around, but that did little to ease his growing anxiety. He tried to get some distance between the golems and himself, but found that he couldn't. When he looked down at his body to see what was wrong he saw that his wrists, ankles, and waist were bounds to the ground by what appeared to be stone manacles.

"W-w-what the!" stuttered Naruto, as he tried futilely to free himself fro his restraints.

"Like them?" asked the golem that had grey and yellow colored armor, as well as a gray mask that covered it's entire face. Yet, surprisingly, the masked moved as if it were an actual human face. "I made them especially for you, glad to see that they are the doing their job well." it joked.

"Hewkii, be nice." admonished a blue and white armored golem, before it lightly hit the now identified Hewkii's shoulder. Naruto noted that this golem had a young feminine-sounding voice, and that she wore a blue mask that two tube-like structures that were underneath the mask's eye holes. "The poor thing must be scared already after what Turaga Onewa had done to it, and it doesn't need you making things worse.

"Relax, Hahli, I was only trying to start a conversation." replied Hewkii.

"Perhaps, it would feel a bit more at ease if you were to release its bonds." said a green golem with green and silver armor. This one had had green mask that had five spikes branching out: two to the right, one straight up, and the other two towards the left. It also had a pair talon-like additions on the front of its feet.

"No! Absolutely not! We don't know what it is capable of if it's let loose." interjected one of the smaller clothed golems. This one was colored light brown, had orangish-colored eyes, and was holding a hammer staff that an amber orb in the center of the hammer part. Upon seeing that staff, Naruto had a pretty good idea on who attacked him from behind.

"Oh, come on, Onewa, not this again!" said another clothed golem, only this one was colored light green, with a few rust spots on his green mask, and was carrying a green staff that had a circular saw blade at the top end with a lime green orb underneath it.

"Don't start with me, Matau! You saw how it reacted to Toa Gali, didn't you!"

"With all due respect, Turaga," said the blue and silver golem that Naruto recognized as the one that had startled him before he was knocked out, "I think that it was just frightened. After all, I _was _bit too close to it when it regained consciousness." But "Turaga Onewa" continued on, as if she didn't say anything at all.

"Where are Turaga Dume, Vakama, and Takanuva? They should be here!" it said irritably.

"I'm sure that they have a reasonable justification for not being here." said a golem with black and silver armor. It had emerald green eyes, a deep masculine voice. And even though it looked a tad bit shorter than the others, it also looked incredibly strong.

"Onua has a point." said a clothed golem that was the smallest of the all of the golems. It appeared to have the same emerald eyes as 'Onua', but had armored that was light gray, and held a staff that had some sort of digging drill on the top end, and a shining gray orb in the center of it. "Turaga Dume has lived longer than any of us, and has encountered things that none of us could have imagined. If he has kept something a secret from us, I am sure that it was in good intentions."

"Yes, you _would _know everything about keeping secrets in _good intentions_, wouldn't you?" muttered a light tan, brown, and silver armored golem. This one had amber/orange eyes, silver hammer-like additions attached to its feet, and seemed to be the second smallest of all of the armored golems. Currently, it looked a bit irritated at something, if Naruto could tell by its expressions. The others quickly noticed this as well.

"Is something the matter, Toa Pohatu?" asked the clothed gray golem.

"As a matter of fact, yes, there is." stated 'Pohatu' tersely. "Lately, I've been feeling that you Turaga have been keeping too many secrets from everyone. Now, I know you think that you are doing everyone a favor by not telling them certain information they aren't ready to hear, but it's another thing to keep secrets from us about certain things that can cause significant damage in the near future. How are we supposed fulfill our duty and destiny if you keep us in the dark about what we are supposed to be on guard for!"

The Turaga just stayed silent and looked down towards the ground sadly already knowing where this conversation was heading. It was Turaga Whenua that broke the silence. "…If this is about that incident with the kraata cave in Po-Wahi…"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about!" interrupted Pohatu. "Of all the things not to tell us Toa, how could you have stashed those…those….wretched slug servants of Makuta…in _**my **_realm, and not tell any of us! We could have taken extra precautions to make sure that those things would never break free! But instead, you waited until the very worst moment to tell us!"

"We didn't tell you about the cave, because at the time they were of no threat to the Matoran! We wanted to prevent causing a mass panic by releasing unnecessary information!" interjected Onewa.

"But still, Turaga," said a red and silver armored golem. "the fact that you've kept something like this a secret doesn't really inspire others to readily trust you, regardless of your best intentions."

"Not to mention, this isn't the first time that you all have kept important information a secret from us, if you recall your previous lives in this lost city." stated an white and silver armored golem. This one was by far the most odd looking that Naruto had ever seen. It's mask was white all over, with the most distinguishing characteristic being the telescopic part implanted where the right eye should be visible. Its eyes, unlike the others, were of two different colors; the left one was a cold, dark blue while the right one was a bright orange. To top it all off, it wielded a white shield on its left arm.

"And as I stated before, we didn't want to create a mass panic by telling everyone information that they didn't need to know!" retorted Onewa, trying to put an end to the entire situation.

"Didn't need to know? **DIDN'T NEED TO KNOW!**" hollered a golem with red and gold colored armor. This golem also had lime green eyes and had armor similar to Hahli and Hewkii's. "Even after all this time, you _still _justify keeping all of these secrets from us? From the Matoran! The kraata cave, our past lives in Metru Nui, those secrets I can understand. But the fact that all of you agreed to keep us Inika and the Matoran in the dark of the Great Spirit's declining health is just proof that…"

"Hey, hey! Hold up there, Jaller! Have you been out in the heat for too long, fire-spitter*****, or have you forgotten that it was Turaga Nokama that alerted us of Mata Nui's peril in the first place? And it was because of her that we were able to rescue the Toa Nuva, and save the Great Spirit himself!" interrupted another green and silver armored golem. Only this one had lime green eyes, and wore a green mask that looked as if the left side around the left eye was replaced with a foreign material that almost like scales, making the mask look like it was incomplete.

"That doesn't take away from the fact that they've been keeping secrets from us! And they're probably doing it right now!" hollered Jaller.

This outburst seemed to have been the last straw for the gathered group, as Naruto watched as the golems began to argue with each other. At first it started out as a mild mass of everyone talking at once, each one trying to get their point across to the other. But it quickly escalated, as the mutterings turned into hollering, and soon everyone was arguing with each other. At this point, Naruto was getting more and more agitated, and the sight of these arguing golems wasn't exactly calming to him. Plus, he was _still _shackled to the ground by those extremely heavy stone manacles.

"Hey, you guys!" said Naruto, trying to gain at least one of the golem's attention. This proved to be unsuccessful, as the golems continued to argue amongst themselves.

"Heellllllloooooo! I'm still shackled to the ground here!" yelled Naruto, but he was promptly ignored once again. Losing whatever patience he had left, Naruto was about to go into one of his usual angry rants he used whenever someone got on his last nerves, when someone else made their presence known.

"**ENOUGH!**" bellowed a new voice that demanded authority, immediately stopping the massive argument. Silence quickly settled in, with the exception of the sound of several footsteps getting louder and louder with each passing second. The crowd of golems split into two different groups on the left right and left of Naruto to allow the newcomers to approach them without any hindrance. With no one obscuring his view, Naruto watched as three golems he haven't seen yet approach him.

The one that was leading the group of three was another clothed golem, except the shawl that was across its shoulders had a silver square design that covered the entire cloth, except for an odd circular design that was where the strips were draped over its shoulders. It had dark red and black limbs, and had an elongated burgundy and dark red mask, with two gray cylinders on both sides of the mouth area was. In its right hand was a black staff with light tan sections on the bottom and middle part. On the top was vibrant blue jewel.

The other golem was garbed in the shawls that was similar to the ones the first five clothed golems were dressed in. The only thing that differed were the colors of the shawls. It was colored red and orange, with a light orange mask that had a gap on the very top and looked as if it had a narrow beard located to where its mouth was. It too was carrying a unique staff, except it was dark orange with a light orange orb on the top of it, held in place with small strands that wrapped around it.

The last golem was an armored one, just like the ones with silver armor, yet completely different as well. Instead of the regular silver, the golem was adorned with golden armor that almost looked white. On its head was a golden mask that had nine long spikes, three were on the left and right sides of its head, and last three were on the top. Additionally, there were three horizontally thick stripes, one on top of the other, on both of its "cheeks". Coincidentally, Naruto thought that they looked a lot like his own whisker marks. And for some odd reason, Naurto felt as if his unease and distress seemed to lessen greatly. He didn't know how or why, but he suspected it had something to do with that golden armored golem.

"I am severely disappointed in you all. I leave for a few minutes, and when I come back I find all of you squabbling like Gukko birds***** over a berry! Do you, or do you not want to wake up the Matoran again! I know that we all have went through dramatic experiences, but does not give you the excuse to behave like this!" said the black and red golem, scolding the others like a father would to his children if he caught them arguing. The arguing golems became very quiet, embarrassed that they had lost control of themselves in such a manner. With that said, the red and black golem turned his attention back to the still-shackled Naruto. This, in turn caused the rest of the others to focus their gazes on him as well, making Naruto even more anxious than he was when all of this started. The golems stared at Naruto for what seemed like an extremely long time before the red and black golem spoke again.

"Toa Gali, is the human alright?" it asked, making Gali jump with the sudden question.

"Erm…Yes, Turaga Dume, the…human… didn't appear to have suffered any injuries." she said, a bit hesitantly.

"Good, good." replied Dume quietly. "Toa Pohatu, Toa Hewkii, which one of you placed those restraints on our guest?"

"It was me, Turaga." said Hewkii, hoping that the Turaga wasn't going to shout at him. Luckily, that wasn't the case.

"Could you please release them?" asked Dume.

This momentarily shocked Hewkii, but immediately tried to hide it. "Pardon me if I'm overstepping my boundaries, Turaga, but why would you want me to do such thing?" he asked.

"Why, to talk to him properly, young Toa. I believe that our guest deserves an explanation for all of what he has been through, and would be more willing to listen if he wasn't chained like a prisoner." answered Dume.

Turaga Onewa made his opinion of this idea apparent very quickly. "But we don't know what it's capable of Dume! It could attack you when-" But Dume raised his hand up and gave the younger Turaga a stern look, effectively stopping Onewa in mid-sentence.

"While I appreciate the concern, Onewa, I think that I'll be just fine. Besides, with all of these Toa around, I doubt that our guest will be tempted to try anything." Dume then turned to face Naruto again. "You won't attack anyone once you are freed, will you?" he asked.

"N-n-no, of course not. I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing." said Naruto nervously, as he saw the armored golems shoot hard stares towards him.

"There you have it. Now, Hewkii, if you could be so kind as to remove the manacles." said Dume.

"R-right, at once, Turaga Dume." replied Hewkii. He then quickly walked up to Naruto. Channeling his elemental powers through his hands, Hewkii snapped his fingers while mentally commanding the stone manacles to break. Instantly, Naruto felt the stony restraints break and crumple. As he sat up, massaging his wrists, he didn't notice Dume approaching until he was right in front of him. When he did finally notice, Dume was right in front of him, offering his hand. After looking at it for a moment, Naruto carefully accepted the offered hand and allowed the smaller being help him up to his feet, although he was surprised by how strong it was.

"Perhaps it would be best if we were to have this conversation in a more private setting, as I can assume that you have a lot of questions that you would liked answered." said Dume.

"Now hold on a second, Dume, you can be serious about this! You're just going away to talk with this unknown being in a secluded area, with no one around for your protection!" interjected an exasperated Onewa.

'_Oh for the love Kami! Will that hammer-wielding tin can give it a rest already! I'm not going to attack anyone!' _though Naruto. "Onewa's" paranoia was starting to really get on the blonde ninja's last set of nerves.

"With all due respect, Turaga Dume, I too think that being on your own isn't a good idea right now. Perhaps it would be best that one of us were to stay with you during your… conversation." said the red and silver armored golem.

"I assure you, Toa Tahu, that I will be fine." said Dume tiredly. At seeing that Tahu wasn't convinced, the eldest Turaga interjected. "But, if it will put you all at ease, then shall agree to your request." Dume then turned his attention towards the golden golem. "Toa Takanuva, would you be so kind as to accompany us?"

Takanuva was startled by the sudden request. He had expected Dume to select him, as he was expecting one of the more experienced Toa to be selected. Surely, one of them would've been more suitable. But nonetheless, Takanuva agreed to the Dume's request.

"Thank you, Takanuva." said Dume before he turned to the remaining members of the gathered group. "I know that all of you want an explanation to all of the events that have occurred, and by all means you deserve to know everything. But, I ask that all of you to wait a little bit longer. Our guest has been put through enough already, and it would be courteous not to keep him waiting any longer." And with that, Dume began to lead Naruto and Takanuva away from the group so that their conversation could be more private.

As they watched the strange group walk away, Nokama immediately turned her attention to the second Turaga of fire. "Vakama, what exactly happened when you were with Turaga Dume and Takanuva?" she asked immediately.

"And more importantly, why is Turaga Dume so _trusting_ of this newcomer?" questioned Onewa. At that moment, everyone in the group turned their attention to Vakama, expecting answers. Vakama just gave a tired sigh; this was going to be a very long night.

**77777777 **

_With Naruto _

As Naruto was led by the "Turaga Dume" and "Toa Takanuva", he couldn't help but start thinking of possible ways to escape in case the situation escalated into violence. But to be honest, he didn't even know if he could escape to begin with. He had paid close attention to when "Hewkii" released him from his bonds; he had managed to control stone without using any hand signs or written seals. It was if he were controlling the stone by his thoughts, and that level of elemental manipulation only existed in legends! And if this "Takanuva" golem was anything like that "Hewkii" one, then escape was going to be nearly impossible, especially since he didn't know what the golden armored figure was capable of. On top of all this, there was still the "Turaga Dume" to consider. Even though he seemed like he didn't pose much of a threat, he learned long ago never to judge a person based on their appearance from the Third Lord Hokage.

"This should be far enough." was what brought Naruto out of his thoughts. As he looked around, Naruto saw that he was far away from the group of golems, and that "Dume" and "Takanuva" looking at him. "Now before we begin," started the one known as "Dume", "could you please tell us what is your name?"

Naruto was a bit startled by the sudden question, and instantly became wary. Since he didn't know if these things were benign or malevolent beings, he didn't want to reveal too much information. So, he decided to just reveal something simple, like his name, and see how they'll react.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki." he said with a straight face, trying not to make is anxiety visible.

"Hm…Naruto Uzumaki…interesting name." said Dume, as if he were recalling a long lost friend. "So tell me, young Naruto, how is the Hidden Leaf Village doing these days?"

Naruto's eyes widened with shock. Did this little golem know more than he was letting on? Was he just toying with him! At seeing the alarmed expression on the blonde's face, "Dume" couldn't help but chuckle, which only served to make Naruto even more uncomfortable.

"H-how do you know the name of my home village?" questioned Naruto.

"It's simple, really." replied the clothed golem. "Your headband signifies that you are a member of the shinobi corps for the Village Hidden in the Leaves. But more importantly, I was one of the many Toa that fought along side Hiruzen Sarutobi, your Third Lord Hokage, during the First Great Shinobi World War."

That left Naruto completely shell-shocked; this…golem…fought with Old Man Hokage during the war! If so, how come there wasn't any mention of this in the history books. Even though he wasn't much of a bookworm himself, he would have definitely remembered a name like Dume.

"Just…just who are you?" asked Naruto.

At that the golem seemed to smile. "Well, young one, I am known as Dume, currently the eldest Turaga alive and the current leader of Metru Nui. And this," he said as he gestured to the tall golden golem, "is Takanuva, the Toa of Light."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute, just what the heck is a _Toa _or a _Turaga_? Why are do you all look like living metal golems, is it some sort of armor or something? And more importantly, if you truly fought with the Third Hokage during the Shinobi Wars, then how come this the first time I've ever heard about it?" asked Naruto, who could no longer hold back his growing confusion.

Turaga Dume gave a tired sigh before placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder. He knew that the teenage youth wasn't going to like this, but he could think of no other way of explaining it. "In regards to your last question, the reason that you have never heard of me or the others before is because you are no longer in the Elemental Nations." he said, softly.

"…What?"

_To Be Continued _

**7777777 **

**There, Chapter 7 is done! Sorry the long wait, but college **_**does **_**come first. I originally wanted to post this on October 10th****, a.k.a. Naruto's birthday, but the managers of the site decided to run so maintenance programs and disable the login feature. So, I guess this is a belated birthday present for "Naruto". Please don't be shy with reviews.**

***fire-spitter: a nickname that Le-Matorans use with Ta-Matorans. Yet when someone other than a Le-Matoran uses this name, it is considered to be an insult.**

***Gukko Bird: a bird like rahi beast that is large in size, and somewhat resembles a four-winged humming bird. **


	8. New Dangers Emerge

**The Forgotten Prophecy**

**Hey, guys. I own absolutely nothing. **

'_Blah'_- inner thoughts

"Blah"** -** talking

'_**Blah' **_- demon/monster speaking

"**Blah" -** jutsu being performed

"**BLAH"** - really angry yelling

**#**- scene change

**88888888 **

**Chapter 8: New Dangers Emerge **

"I'm sorry, but could repeat that? Because, I could have sworn that I heard you say that I'm not in the Elemental Nations anymore." said Naruto, his face remaining placid despite the encroaching panic that was threatening to take over.

Turaga Dume just shook his head, having anticipated such a reaction from the shinobi. "I'm afraid you've heard correctly, young man. You are currently in a realm that you shinobi haven't set foot in for several years."

Naruto's eyes widened with shock and confusion. "Wait, you mean to tell me that this…this…"

"Metru Nui?" asked Takanuva, helpfully.

"Right, Metru Nui, isn't any part of the Elemental Nations? So what are you saying? That I'm in some distant city that's miles away from the Nations? Or some sort of island?" continued Naruto, his unease beginning to increase.

Turaga Dume just looked at him with an apologetic expression. "More like an alternate dimension that is somewhat similar to your own world, and yet completely different at the same time. In other words, the Elemental Nations do not exist here." It took the senior Turaga all of his restraint not to flinch at the sight of the young man's panicked expression. He had seen the same look on several young Toa when they were on their first missions abroad during the war. The time they'd spent away from home and what they saw in the battles they fought often had negative effects on their mental health; it made them liabilities to their brothers and sisters in arms, as well as themselves. Just like those unfortunate few, the young man before him started exhibiting the same symptoms that those few Toa displayed, and simply waited for the upcoming emotional explosion. Yet, to his surprise, the young boy in front of him did not completely lose himself to his panic. In fact, he appeared to slowly get his emotions and his breathing under control.

"Okay," said Naruto with a deep sigh, "So I'm in some dimension that's in no way whatsoever near my home world? Like, some sort of alternate dimension?"

"Well,…that's _one _way of describing your current predicament, yes." said Dume, after a brief pause, waiting for the boy to continue.

"Wait on a minute! If I'm in an alternate dimension, then how do you know about the Elemental Nations? And more importantly, how were you and these…_Toa_ and _Turaga_…a part of the Shinobi World Wars?"

Turaga Dume just gave a small chuckle. "You would be quite surprised, young one." he stated, before he began to get the shinobi caught up with the history that his generation never knew of.

**88888888 **

_With Turaga Vakama's group _

"Are you serious, Vakama?" exclaimed Nokama, disbelief evident in her voice.

"It _does _seem a bit far-fetched, even for me, fire-spitter." added Matau.

"Oh, please! This is complete nonsense!" snorted Onewa. "Doesn't it seem suspicious that Dume would just reveal all of this information _the moment_ that this newcomer appears?"

"Yeah, you _would _know allabout withholding important intelligence, wouldn't you?" sneered Jaller.

"Jaller!" exclaimed Hahli, shocked at the sudden change in the Toa Inika of fire. "What has gotten into you?"

"What? I'm just saying that _certain_ Turaga know a lot about keeping valuable information to themselves. On might say that they're _experts _on that particular skill."

The youngest fire Toa got a stern glare from Onewa for his comment. "Now look here, you young fool! Do you actually think that sharing every little secret that we know will make the populace feel more secure about their way of life? Because if you do, then you truly are naïve! If the Matoran were told everything we kept from them, mass hysteria and chaos would ensue!"

"Yeah, that's nice and all, but have you forgotten that in keeping your dirty little secrets, you could actually do more harm than good by keeping the masses ignorant of potential danger? How can we better prepare ourselves for the future if you don't tell us what it is we're supposed to look out for?"

'_Will you two stow it already?' _shouted Kongu telepathically into the minds of the two bickering individuals. _'You two have been at each others throats ever since we found out that Mata Nui was on the verge of dying! And it has only gotten worse with this newcomer! It's late, everybody is tired, and this argument is only making every one even more frustrated! If you two want to butt heads like two adolescent Kane-Ra's__*****__, then do it somewhere else!_'

The Toa and Turaga looked at Kongu with shocked expressions. In the entire time that the two had gotten to know Kongu, they had come to realize that it wasn't a good idea to make the usually friendly Le-Matoran-turned-Toa Inika angry, especially since Kongu rarely ever got mad at anyone or anything. Not wanting to test their luck, they decided to hold off on their argument until a later date. Preferably when Kongu wasn't around.

"Back to what I was saying earlier," said Vakama, bringing everybody's eyes onto him, "despite how absurd all this seems, I can assure you without a doubt that everything that Turaga Dume has shared with me is the truth.

"But we have been misled before, Vakama." said Whenua, stepping forward out of the group. "During the events that occurred prior to the Great Cataclysm, we all thought Turaga Dume had betrayed us, when it was actually Makuta Teridax disguised as him. And now, this stranger arrives from the sky, and Dume starts acting secretive and reclusive yet again. Can you not see how history is repeating itself?"

Vakama just looked towards the former Toa Metru of earth with a dead serious look in his glowing red eyes. "You weren't there when Turaga Dume revealed everything, Whenua. The look that I saw in his eyes, it was like I was seeing an entirely different side to him."

"What do you mean?" asked Nokama. Everyone else's attention shifted back towards Vakama, their curiosity returning to them.

"When Takanuva and I were with Dume in his personal chambers, I saw him not as the stern isolationist that we've all come to know. No, I saw a Toa that was part of a long and arduous war; a veteran combatant that witnessed many unspeakable horrors that he wishes that he could forget, yet knows that he cannot. It was like seeing Dume when he had just retired from his role as a Toa."

"You really saw all of that, Turaga?" asked Pohatu curiously.

Turaga Onewa, on the other hand, merely snorted in disbelief.

**88888888 **

_Back with Naruto _

Naruto was completely shell shocked. Everything that knew about the First Shinobi World War had been completely wrong! Then again, he wasn't really an expert on the Leaf Village's history, but the revelation was still mind blowing. Yet, there was something that gnawed at the back of his mind.

"You say that you fought alongside Leaf shinobi during the First Shinobi World War, more specifically Hiruzen Sarutobi's team, is that right?" At the Dume's nod, Naruto continued on. "If that's the case, then could you please show me some proof that you were aligned with our village? Anyone can say that they worked with the Leaf Village, but someone that's not part of the village's shinobi forces would need some sort of proof that they are in an alliance with said village, especially during a war."

Naruto watched with sharp eyes at what Dume's reaction would be, as it would determine what his next course of action would be. As the Turaga reached behind his back for something, Naruto tensed and prepared himself for the worst possible scenario, thinking that Dume was reaching for a concealed weapon. But before he could spring into action, Dume withdrew a very battered Leaf forehead protector, catching the boy completely by surprise.

"I see that you were expecting something else. Perhaps, a weapon of some sort?" chuckled Dume. "Although you were smart enough to demand proof in order to validate my claims, you having to fear from me, young one. This headband was given to my team and me as a sign of good faith, as well as a way to show other shinobi villages which Toa were aligned with which village. It is actually one of my most treasured possessions." With that, Dume placed the item back from where he withdrew it.

"So, you've _really _fought alongside Old Man Hokage?" asked Naruto.

"HA! _Old Man Hokage_? That foolish monkey boy _actually _succeeded his mentor, Tobirama, has he? Well, it looks like I've lost our bet. So, how is Hiruzen doing these days? I'd imagine that he would be enjoying retirement by now." said Dume.

The mentioning of the Third Hokage brought a frown to Naruto's face; the memory of how his surrogate grandfather died came flooding back to him. "I'm afraid that he's no longer with us. Nearly three years ago, three years in my world more specifically, our Third Lord Hokage died after he saved our village from a joint invasion by the Sand and Sound Villages." Naruto said solemnly.

Takanuva's expression turned grim, feeling sympathetic for the ninja who had experienced the pain of losing someone to him important in the line of duty. Dume, on the other hand, looked both saddened and confused. "I don't understand. Given the amount of time that has transpired since I last saw Hiruzen, he should have been well into his retirement. Why didn't his successor handle the situation?"

Naruto had to fight the flinch that was coming at the mentioning of the Fourth Hokage. It was still a sore subject for him, considering that the Fourth's final act before his death was sealing the fox demon into him when he was a baby. That, and he wasn't sure telling the natives of Metru Nui that he contained a demon that could destroy everything in its path would be a good idea.

"The Fourth Lord Hokage died about fifteen years ago, after he gave his life to defeat the Nine-Tailed-Fox Demon that threatened our village. Since then, the Third Hokage had no choice but to come out of retirement. Then, thirteen years after the Fourth's death, our village was attacked during the final matches of the chunin exams."

"I…I see...how unfortunate. I am truly sorry for your loss. Hiruzen was a fine shinobi, and a good person. He always placed the needs of others over his own. And the Fourth Hokage sounded like he was an honorable leader, if he were willing to sacrifice his own life to save his entire village." said Dume solemnly. "Did your village suffer greatly during the invasion? I know from experience that Sand shinobi are quite tenacious, but these _Sound _shinobi are quite new to me."

"Yeah, we lost a lot of good soldiers, but we managed to drive off the invading forces in the end. The Sand Village was our ally that was experiencing financial troubles since their Wind Daimyo had been assigning the majority of the missions that required shinobi to other villages. This allowed the newly created Sound Village to manipulate Sand into joining their plan to attack and destroy the Leaf, as a show of force to the other Elemental Nations."

"So the Kazekage was willing to risk everything on a gamble that could have very well resulted in another world war? I would have thought that the Sand village would have chosen someone more level-headed to be their leader."

"Well, that's where it gets complicated. The Kazekage was assassinated before the actual invasion, and was then later impersonated by the mastermind behind the entire plan, Orochimaru. He…" suddenly, something snapped in his mind. The one responsible for the death of the Third Hokage and Sasuke's defection had traveled through the portal to Metru Nui with him. And now he was running loose somewhere in the city. "OROCHIMARU!"

The sudden outburst startled the Toa and Turaga. "What? What is it?" asked Takanuva.

"Crap! I can't believe I nearly forgot about that bastard! Damn it!" shouted Naruto. As he began to look around wildly, as if to find something that was floating in the sky before his eyes settled onto Dume and Takanuva. "Quick! Did any of you guys find another person laying around the area where I landed?"

"Well, no. You were the only one that I found. That is, you were the only person that crash-landed in the coliseum." replied Takanuva.

"Was there anything else that you saw before I landed? Anything at all?"

"Yes! Yes, there was, and I nearly forgotten about it! Right before you appeared, the was a bright flash in the sky that was followed by the appearance of a shooting star. But the strange thing is that it split in two separate ones, one of which turned out to be you."

"The Inter-Dimensional Portal Jutsu! That's the only explanation to what you saw." said Naruto, before his eyes widened in shock. "Where did the other shooting star land?"

"We…don't know. We kind of lost sight of the other one when you crashed down."

"Shit! This is bad! This is really bad!" declared Naruto. He began to pace around frantically, clutching at his hair frantically.

"Why is that bad? What's the matter?" asked Dume.

"Because that _shooting star_ happens to be Konoha's most despised traitor, that's why!" Naruto practically hollered.

"Hey! Calm down, will you?" interrupted Takanuva, placing himself in front of Dume.

"Calm down? Calm down!" howled Naruto. "I don't have time to calm down! And neither do any of you! Don't you understand that this entire city is in grave danger?"

"And don't you know that shouting your head off and pacing around like a maniac isn't helping? Look, whatever the problem is. We can't help you unless you calm down and tell us exactly what is wrong." lectured Takanuva, unaware that his mask was glowing while he was talking. Dume, on the other hand, noticed this small action but decided against alerting the Toa of it. Instead he took to watching the Leaf nin's reaction to the mask. He could see the whisker-marked blonde was still stressed out about the second shooting star, if the heavy breathing was any indication. Yet, he watched as Naruto's breathing slowed to a more relaxed pace.

"Okay. Okay, I'm sorry for reacting like that." apologized Naruto. "But Orochimaru is _**not **_someone you want to have around in your city."

"Is he truly _that _dangerous?" asked Takanuva.

"He is." replied Naruto. He was one of the Third Hokage's students, which later became known as the Sanin, or the Legendary Ninja. From what I've learned, Orochimaru was Old Man Hokage's favorite out of his team. He was known to be a prodigy and was once a candidate to succeed the Third Hokage."

"I take it that someone else was chosen over him?" asked Dume. He was getting both intrigued and feared about learning more about one of Hiruzen's students.

"Yes." replied Naruto. "When it came time to choose a successor, the Old Man chose Minato Namikaze over Orochimaru as the Fourth Hokage. After first, I thought that was why Orochimaru turned traitor, but I later found out that his true reason for committing treason was more…sinister than just jealousy over being denied a promotion."

Naruto paused to see how his audience was digesting what he had told them so far. Seeing that they didn't look like they were going to question him about what he had just said, he continued. "After losing the title of Hokage to the Fourth, Orochimaru had begun to act weird. People around the village had started to disappear as well, ranging from civilians and genin to chunin and ANBU black operatives. At first, the Old Man didn't know who was responsible for these abductions, but after receiving several reports from his top agents, they had finally gotten a lead as to where the kidnapper was hiding. Gathering his two best ANBU agents, the Old Man went to investigate the supposed hideout. But when they finally got to the location, they were in for the nastiest shock of their lives. Sure, they found both the missing people and the abductor at the same time, but not the way that would have liked to. The missing people were all dead; dissected and dismembered as if they were lab animals. And the kidnapper, who was caught dissecting another body, was none other than Orochimaru."

"What?" exclaimed Takanuva, unable to believe that someone could do such a horrid crime. Dume stumbled back a bit, his hand placed over his heart stone, trying to recover from the shock.

"Are…are you sure that he wasn't being influenced by some outside force? To willingly commit such atrocities, especially one of Hiruzen's students,it doesn't seem possible!" the Turaga exclaimed.

"That's was probably what the Old Man thought as well. But, it _was _Orochimaru, make no mistake about that."

"But why would he do something so horrendous?" asked Takanuva.

"Well, according to him, the bastard was studying the development of ninjutsu. See, when the Sanin were still genin, Orochimaru was considered a prodigy with ninjutsu being his strong point. But somehow, something changed him to become extremely obsessed with learning every ninjutsu that the world had to offer. Even the ones that weren't created yet. He believed that by learning every jutsu that existed, that he would become the _ultimate being,_ or some crazy crap like that. The only problem with the plan was that time wasn't in his favor, which was why he began abducting people to experiment on. He was researching the Immortality Jutsu; a forbidden ninja art transfers the caster's soul into another person's body, allowing the caster to cheat death. It is considered to be _THE_ most heinous crime against nature that anyone can commit." Naruto finished with a growl.

The Toa flinched at the thought of someone being able to take over and live in another person's body. It just seemed so wrong and unnatural to possibly exist. Dume was becoming more and more distressed and disgusted that someone under his old comrades instruction had fallen so far. "From the way you haven spoken about this man, I assume that it's safe to guess that Orochimaru managed to escape execution, correct?" asked the Turaga.

Naruto just nodded. "Even though he knew that Orochimaru had committed those inhumane acts, the Old Man couldn't bring himself to kill one of his own students. After he had escaped the village, Orochimaru went into hiding for several years, and wasn't heard or seen of until the chunin exams were held in Leaf thirteen years after I was born. I know that I've already said that he was the one behind that Sand and Sound invasion, but what I didn't tell was that it was Orochimaru who killed the Third Hokage." Naruto finished with a growl.

"Is that so?" said Dume coolly, his grip on his staff tightening to the point that his knuckles began to hurt from the strain.

"Yes, it is. But I'm afraid that there that's not the worst news." said Naruto glumly. "During his time under the radar, Orochimaru had finally found a way to successfully use the Immortality Jutsu, and had begun abducting people to use as vessels. He was in one of his recently obtained vessels while in the invasion."

"Then how did Hiruzen recognize Orochimaru if he was inhabiting another person's body?" asked Takanuva, not believing that he was discussing the methods of a ninja technique that takes over someone's body.

"Orochimaru was always a bit on the vain side. With his skills as a master of disguise and snake-style ninjutsu, he would have no problem altering the body's physical appearance. So it wouldn't matter if he possessed a male or female body, he can always make it appear as if he was still in his old body."

"That monster!" shouted Takanuva, rage surging through his entire being.

"Indeed." said Dume, in a reserved tone of voice, hiding his inner conflict well. "It is saddening to hear that one of Hiruzen's students would fall from grace in such a manner. But, that doesn't explain how you ended up in our realm."

Naruto just sighed. "The invasion wasn't just a plan to destroy our village; Orochimaru was looking for a way to discover and learn more jutsu at a faster rate. Earlier in the exam, that bastard branded one of my teammates, Sasuke Uchiha, with some sort of curse mark jutsu that corrupted the mind and body in exchange for giving him access to power that seemed just too unnatural. And even though it increases a person's strength, speed, and agility, the mark erodes the user's personality away until ther is nothing left. It wasn't until the invasion and Sasuke's subsequent defection form the Leaf that I learned that Orochimaru wanted to use Sasuke as his next vessel in order to make use of his Sharingan kekkei genkai's ability to copy ninjutsu from other shinobi."

"I see. To be honest, I never did like the Uchiha clan; they always preferred to flaunt their abilities to anyone, and would gladly steal techniques from their comrades on the principle that they are able to. The Uchiha clan must be _so_ proud of him."

"Actually, the Uchiha clan is no more. Almost the entire Uchiha clan was slaughtered by Sasuke's older brother, Itachi, about seven years ago." said Naruto, solemnly.

"What, one Uchiha killing the majority of his family? That's completely absurd! Sure, the Uchiha clan always thought highly of themselves to the point that they would make enemies within the village as well as outside, but I would have _never _imagined that the entire clan would be destroyed by one of their own. And what do you mean _almost the entire clan_? Did anyone else besides this _Sasuke_ escape the carnage?"

"Unfortunately, no. Sasuke was the only survivor of the massacre, and had since been obsessed with avenging his clan. Orochimaru's curse mark was the driving force that convinced him to abandon everything that he had in Leaf for the power that the traitor offered. I tried to stop him from leaving when I was thirteen, but I couldn't stop him; he was dead serious about leaving and the only I could have succeeded was to kill him, something that I just couldn't bring myself to do. Two years later, my team and I tried to bring Sasuke back on a second attempt. At first, we thought that we were going to succeed, but then Orochimaru appeared and ruined everything. He managed to overwhelm us all, and was about to escape with Sasuke via the Inter-Dimensional Portal Jutsu. In the last moment, I... managed to get Sasuke away from the snake, but I couldn't get away from the portal in time." explained Naruto, hoping that Dume didn't notice his near slip about how he _really_ stopped Orochimaru from abducting Sasuke. "After that, everything else was like a blur until I blacked out. When I came to, I wound up face-to-face with one of the Toa, before a Turaga knocked me out with a hammer. When I woke up again, I was cuffed to the ground with all of the Toa and Turaga flocking all around me."

"I see." said Dume. "I apologize for the discomfort that you've experienced from the Toa and my fellow Turaga. But, in their defense, they have never seen an outsider such as yourself before."

"Don't worry about it. I would have reacted the same way." said Naruto. "But none of that is important right now. Right now I need to know where did the first shooting star land? Where is Orochimaru?"

"Do not worry, young Naruto. We _will _find this Orochimaru, and put an end to his evil. But for now, I'm afraid that there is very little that we can do at this moment." explained Dume.

"But you don't understand! Orochimaru never stops plotting for an instant. The more time that you leave him to his schemes, the worst it'll be-"

"I understand the severity of the situation, but you must see that at this time, we are at a disadvantage. Our Toa are currently still recovering from preventing a catastrophe that would have meant the end for all of us. The struggle has exhausted them both mentally and physically, and to send them out searching for someone as slippery as Orochimaru would only be counter-productive and dangerous in the long run." explained the eldest Turaga.

That gave Naruto pause. He had to admit, he did sound a bit crazed, and hadn't given any thought as to what had happened to Metru Nui or its inhabitants prior to his and Orochimaru's abrupt arrival. With a deep sigh, the blonde resigned that the search for the serpentine outlaw would have to wait.

"Okay then, what do we do now?" sighed Naruto.

"For now, we rest for the night, and address this problem in the morning, when we are at our finest. But first, I believe that an introduction to the other Turaga and Toa is long overdue. That way, there won't be any room for further...misunderstandings." said Dume.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Turaga? My last encounter with them wasn't exactly good for first impressions, if that hammer-wielding Turaga's actions were anything to go by." said Naruto.

"You have nothing to fear, shinobi. I had left Turaga Vakama to explain your origin and your current situation to the others whilst we were talking, so they won't see you as much as a threat as they did before. Although there are probably a few that will unfortunately still distrust you at some degree, I will personally see to it that no harm shall fall onto you. Now, come along, there's no point in delaying the inevitable." said Dume, before he started towards the group of Toa and Turaga.

Naruto just sighed. "Why does sound like those are going to be the last words that I ever hear?" he muttered, while he followed the Turaga nonetheless.

"Don't worry about it so much." said a voice from his right, which turned out to be Takanuva. "Most of the Toa and Turaga won't give you much trouble. But you would do well to watch yourself around Tahu, Kopaka, and Onewa; those three have a tendency to be a bit hard on others, and it'll take time before they fully trust newcomers like you."

"Great. Just, great. That's all I need now; two Toa _and _a Turaga watching me as if I'm gonna snap and go on a killing spree like some homicidal maniac." muttered Naruto dryly. As the trio got closer to the group, he could see each of the Toa and Turaga train their sights on him, making him feel agitated in no time at all. Immediately, he noticed three figures that seemed to be staring at him harder then the others.

Dume stopped a few feet from the main group, his bright eyes slowly surveying the gathered group. "I take it that Turaga Vakama has explained everything whilst I was away?" he asked.

It was the blue Turaga that answered. "Yes, Turaga Dume." she said. "Forgive me for saying this, but a revelation of this nature seems almost too surreal to be true, and some of us still have trouble accepting all of this." At that point, the light brown hammer-wielding Turaga gave a snort of skepticism, before he nudged by by a diminutive gray Turaga that wielding a drill staff.

Turaga Dume made no physical reaction that he noticed the little exchange between the two Turaga, and continued on. "I realize that all of this is a lot to accept, and that my word does not hold as much credibility as it once did. I apologize for keeping this a secret for so long, but it was done with the intention of keeping the inhabitants of two worlds from destroying the balance that maintained order and life as we and our guest know it." he said, while gesturing to Naruto with his free hand, drawing everyone's attention to the boy. Naruto had to fight back the cringe at feeling so many pairs of eyes focused on him. "But, as we have all come to learn, things sometimes do not go as we planned." continued Dume. "Coincidentally, this young shinobi has been unintentionally transported here through a severely unfortunate event that has occurred on his home world. For now, he will be staying with us in Metru Nui as my guest, and as such, I expect each and everyone of you to be courteous to him for as long as he is here." finished Dume, with a serious look on his visage.

It was the red and silver armored Toa that stepped forward. "Of course we will, Turaga Dume, on the grounds that your _guest_ abides by our laws, and does not do anything to jeopardize the lives of the Matoran." he said, while staring directly at Naruto, as if waiting for him to snap into action. Naruto just stood in his place, and stared back at the Toa, not backing down from its hardened gaze.

"I assure you all, that my guest will be on his best behavior." replied Dume, be fore he turned to face Naruto with a solemn glance. "You _will_ be sure that you follow our customs and obey our city's rules, correct?"

Naruto's face grew dead serious as he faced the Dume, the inquiring red and silver Toa, and the rest of the gathered group. "I give you my word that I will abide to your laws. I will not attack any of you, or the Matoran. But, I reserve the right to defend myself, should I be attacked by anyone." he said in a dead serious tone. The Toa didn't vocally respond, but instead chose to stare intensely at the shinobi, who stared back at the guardian with an equally intense gaze.

"Thank you, young one. That is all that we ask." said Dume briskly, wanting to stomp out any physical confrontations before they began. The red Toa, however, looked as if he wanted to argue with Dume on the matter, but decided against it.

**8888888 **

_Abandoned Sector of Metru Nui. _

The battered, blooded man continued on, regardless of how much his body protested it, with seemingly no specific destination in mind. His haggard panting was the only sounds that could be heard, if anyone or anything was even there to hear it. He was in excruciating pain: his right leg barely had the strength to support his weight, and he was pretty sure that he had a few cracked ribs, to say nothing of the arm that was broken in at least three different places. Blood was seeping through the numerous cuts that covered his body. Every step that he took sent fresh waves of pain through his entire body. But Orochimaru refused to give in and stop to regain his strength. He had suffered through worst injuries, and he refused to be beaten by such petty ones as these. Things were not going as he had planned: he was without his new vessel, he had numerous injuries, and was without Kabuto's medical expertise to help heal them. If his enemies were to find him now, he knew that he wouldn't stand a chance. And all it took for all of his plans to go up in smoke was that blasted fox demon jinchuriki; that boy always seemed to find away to change things out of his favor.

"I swear by my life that I will kill that boy in the most excruciatingly painful way imaginable, the next time that I see him. But none of that matters now. Everything will soon be in my favor, now that I'm in the promised land." muttered Orochimaru. "The land mere men became living legends. The land were the impossible is made possible. The utopia that all men strive to find!" he finished with near hysterical laughter. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and he started to cough uncontrollably, deep hacks accompanying them. It wasn't long until the loud commotion was ended by a large hack, with his mouth opening at a large width that was most common amongst snakes. Two hands shot out of the traitorous sanin's throat and quickly clasped onto the mouth, before it tensed up as if they were pulling something up. Slowly but surely, two arms emerged from Orochimaru's body, followed by a pale head of long black hair, then by a torso, until finally an exact copy of the traitor emerged. After casting an emotionless glace to his discarded "skin", and then examining his newly healed body, Orochimaru made his way towards a nearly collapsed building. There was huge gaping hole in front of it, with a dark tunnel that burrowed deep into the ground, showing no hint to were it went. This didn't give the ex-Leaf nin any pause, as he began the long trek into the darkness below, his eagerness and determination out-weighing any deterrents that would have given beings of saner minds a warning to stay away.

"Yeessssss. Very soon, I will have everything that I could have ever wanted. I'll be able to finally become an equal alongside my greatest idol!" cackled Orochimaru, before he erupted with a fit of maniacal laughter, which gradually decreased in intensity as the snake continued down towards the unknown.

_To Be Continued... _

**88888888 **

**BIONICLE Terms:**

**1) Kane-Ra: a bull-like rahi found in Metru Nui and Mata Nui. **

**Well, that's that. I know that it is kind of dry, but hey, at least it's better than nothing. Though, it does leave a few questions: Who is' Orochimaru's idol? Will the Toa and Turaga accept Naruto? Can they catch Orochimaru before it's too late? Find out next time. **

**I can not express how sorry I am with the lack of updates. But, what with traveling around Spain, and then a computer virus converting the file folders of my USB flash drive into program shortcuts, things can be quite difficult in updating stories. Seriously, it had gotten to the point where I wanted to toss my computer of the top of Gibraltar's hill, and throw my flash drive over Sevilla's electric tram tracks. Still, I'm looking for DA artists that specialize in Naruto and Bionicle(possibly good humanized Bionicle) art styles. If you know anyone that fits in this description, please let me now Please R&R! **


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